


Guardian Angel

by someofthissomeofthat11011



Series: Guardian Angel [1]
Category: Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Adventure, Badass, F/M, Romance, strigoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 12:03:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 24,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/926180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someofthissomeofthat11011/pseuds/someofthissomeofthat11011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place in Shadow Kissed. Rose doesn't just run away. She runs back into the cave to save Dimitri... What's going to happen now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE ACADEMY!

I looked back at Dimitri. Briefly our eyes met. I saw the look in them. They told me we were almost there. We were really going to be together.

That's when the Strigoi attacked. Dimitri was taken by surprise and a Strigoi bit into his neck. Dimitri still tried to put up a fight. The Strigoi dropped him and Dimitri fell to the cave floor too weak to stand on his own. Stan and my mother were pushing me back towards campus. I couldn't go with them. I remember the look in his eyes and I made up my mind. We were going to be together. No matter what. I broke out of their hold and ran back to the cave.

I saw the blonde Strigoi lunge for Dimitri. "DIMITRI!" I screamed. A saw a little light come to Dimitri's eyes and he rolled over just in time. I ran into the cave. I would take on any and every Strigoi that tries to hurt him.

The blonde Strigoi bared his fangs at me. His earlier threat came back to me, the one where he was talking about the last Dragomir. The one where he was talking about my best friend. Looking at the harm he caused Dimitri and the harm he wants to cause Lissa made me deadly. We both got a few blows in on one another, but finally I found my opening. I staked the blonde Strigoi. As the life faded from his eyes, I pulled out my stake alert for any other threats. I was still nauseous so I knew there were still Strigoi alive.

Keeping a careful eye on my surroundings, I helped Dimitri stand up. I had to support a lot of his weight, which wasn't easy, because Dimitri was heavy! We slowly made our way to the cave exit. I realized we might not make it back to the Academy. The sun was almost down, and while we were momentarily safe, I knew I wouldn't be able to move as quickly supporting Dimitri. Gripping my stake in my hand, I urged Dimitri to move as fast as he could. A soft moan escaped his lips. He was in pain.

His pain gave me strength. I knew we had to get back. There had to be a way. I moved faster than I ever had before. It was suddenly as if Dimitri were as light as a feather. We were so close. Only a few more feet and we would be inside the wards.

It wasn't enough time. I saw a Strigoi out of the corner of my eye. He wasn't expecting me to react so quickly. I dodged his punch and got in a well-aimed kick to his stomach. He managed to get a kick in to the side of my stomach. All of a sudden I was having difficulty breathing. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight him off now.

I did something very childish. I pointed behind him, faking a face of shock and fear, which given the circumstances wasn't that difficult. He looked behind him, which gave me the window I needed to stake him.

"Dimitri!" I yelled. "Get inside the wards! Move! You can do it!" I urged him. I wasn't going to be able to support him and fight off Strigoi. Slowly he began to crawl towards the wards. Three Strigoi suddenly appeared. I knew I wouldn't be able to take on all of them, so I mostly stayed on the defensive protecting both myself and Dimitri. I knew the exact moment we passed over the wards, because the Strigoi stopped moving forward, and the guardians swarmed towards us. We made it. We were both safe.

Dimitri was immediately rushed to the clinic, and I refused to leave his side. I don't care if anyone figured out that he was more than my mentor. I couldn't bear to leave his side. Lissa and Adrian were in the clinic, helping out where they could. When Lissa saw me come in with Dimitri, she immediately came over to us.

"Please Liss. Please fix him…" I begged. I never once took my eyes off of Dimitri.

"I'll try. But Rose there's only so much I'll be able to do. I've done a lot of healing today." She warned me.

"Anything you can do. Just make his pain go away." I begged. I felt it through the bond. Pieces of the puzzle started to fall together. She realized I cared for Dimitri as more than a mentor. I could feel that she was going to ask me about it. "Later Liss. Please just help him."

She nodded at me and got to work on Dimitri. She healed his major injuries, leaving him with a sprained wrist and a lot of bruises. She turned on me. "Your turn." She told me.

At first I thought she meant that it was my turn to talk about Dimitri, but then I realized that she wanted to heal me. "Oh no, Liss. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I put as much Rose Hathaway bravado into that statement as possible.

"Rose." Lissa said giving me a look that said quite clearly she wasn't buying it. I sighed and lay down on the cot next to Dimitri's. She healed my broken rib. I wouldn't let her heal anything else. The bruises and cuts would be gone in no time and she didn't need to use anymore Spirit on me.

I looked at Dimitri. He had fallen asleep right after Lissa had finished healing him. He looked so peaceful asleep, like an angel… no like a god.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up, whimpering in warm, protective arms that immediately calmed me down. I looked up into the warm, brown eyes of Dimitri. He kissed my forehead as I took in our surroundings. We were in a room in the clinic. "What's wrong Roza?" He asked me concerned.

Everything came back to me then. The dream. The events in the cave.

I started to sob. "I almost lost you in the cave and then I had a dream…" I paused. I still couldn't figure out if it was a good dream or not.

Dimitri looked at me. A look filled with love and concern. "Do you want to tell me about the dream?" He asked gently.

At first I wasn't sure if I did, but before I knew what I was doing, I was telling him everything. "I dreamed that you turned into a Strigoi and I dropped out of school to go hunt you down and kill you, but then you captured me and I turned into a blood whore. Eventually I managed to escape and I thought I killed you, so I went back to St. Vladimir's. Then you sent me a note saying you were still alive and that you were going to kill me. Me and Lissa broke Victor Dashkov out of prison so he could tell us how to turn you back into a dhampir. Later you kidnapped Lissa as bait to get me and she staked you and you turned back into a dhampir. But then you didn't love me. I was framed for Tatiana's murder and you defended me and even helped me break out of prison even though you insisted you didn't have feelings for me. We went to find Lissa's sister and I killed Victor Dashkov. Then you talked to me and we…" Suddenly I stopped, feeling self-conscious. I could feel the heat flooding to my cheeks.

"What did we… Ah," Dimitri said with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Roza you have an overly active imagination. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. That's not going to change," he promised me, hugging me.

I pulled away and looked around nervously. I saw the hurt in his eyes. The door was only open a crack, but even that could be enough.. "Dimitri, your my mentor." I reminded him.

Understanding replaced his hurt. He realized I was just looking out for him. He closed the door and came back to join me. "Are you allowed to be here?" I asked him surprised.

He grinned and nodded to me. He pointed to another cot in the room. "That one is mine. There are so many casualties they had to put to people in each room," he said with a frown. "Vasilisa put us in here together when we were both asleep." He smiled.

"Oh… yeah, she knows about us," I said not meeting his eyes.

"You told her?" he asked me surprised.

"No, she guessed when I first brought you in," I admitted. "Are you mad?"

He cupped my chin and lifted it up so I had no choice but to look at him. "I'm not mad. I'm happy. I'm glad Vasilisa finally knows." He told me. I could see that he meant it.

I snuggled closer to him. "What now?" I asked him, uncertainly.

He grinned at me. "We're going to be together. Everything I said before we attacked the Strigoi stands. I'm not going to deny how I feel about you anymore. Roza, I love you and I want the whole world to know… After graduation." He told me.

He leaned in and kissed me. He broke apart before the kiss could pick up in intensity. I wasn't going to have that. I pulled him closer to me and threw myself into another kiss. The door started to open and Dimitri stood up next to my bed, once more taking up the role of my mentor.

"I'm glad you're feeling better Rose, but it was still irresponsible for you to go back to the caves when several guardians were ordering you to retreat to the Academy." He said as Dr. Olendzki walked in.

She looked at Dimitri. "Don't be too hard on her. You do owe your life to her," she said grinning. "How are both of you feeling?"

"Sore," we said at the same time. We glanced at each other and laughed.

"I would think so. Both of you got pretty beat up out there," she told us. She examined both of us briefly. "You two should be good to go, but I don't want you back to training for a couple of days and I would prefer it if you avoided any… um strenuous activities."

I looked at her confused. Then as the meaning of her words sunk in, I turned a bright red. It took all of my self-control to keep my face blank and not look at Dimitri. I don't know if she just meant in general, or if she knew about me and Dimitri. She walked out of the exam room, leaving me and Dimitri alone.

I saw my fear mirrored in his eyes. "What does that mean? Does she know?" I asked him nervously.

"If she does, there's nothing we can do about it," he said. "I think she does, but I think she's letting it go."

"But… I don't understand," I admitted frustrated. "Isn't it her job to tell on us."

Dimitri shrugged. "If she were going to call us out on it, she would have."

We stood up, and walked out of the clinic, keeping enough distance that no one would question our student-mentor roles. When we got back to my room, he briefly pulled me into the shadows. He kissed me gently then broke apart. "Sleep tight Roza." Then he walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah Rose and Belikov!"

"Secretly dating."

I almost spit out my cereal as the gossip in the cafeteria finally caught up with me. This was bad. Really bad. Lissa came over and sat across from me, worry in her eyes. She had heard the rumors. Suddenly, I had no appetite. Before Lissa could ask me her first question I got up, dumped out my breakfast, and walked out of the cafeteria. First I went to Dimitri's room, but he wasn't there.

I didn't know where he was, so I decided to go to the gym. Classes were temporarily suspended, so I doubted anyone would be there. To my surprise, I head grunting coming from inside. I walked in and saw someone beating a punching bag, and not just anyone. Dimitri was coated in sweat and had a look of fury on his face. It left me no doubt, he had heard the rumors.

He didn't notice that I walked in at first. Then he stiffened. "You shouldn't be here." He said stiffly.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," I told him. "Are you okay?"

"No." He said.

"Look. I'm sorry," I started.

"You're sorry? Why are you sorry?" He asked me, momentarily confused.

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" I asked him.

"Yes," he said, his face darkening.

"It's all my fault. I refused to listen to my mom and Stan and then I made such a big deal out of you being hurt. We were supposed to be careful and make sure no one could guess, but I didn't. I made it so obvious." I told him. It really was my fault.

"Oh Roza." He said coming over to me and giving me a hug. I backed out of it immediately. He looked hurt.

"I don't want to cause you anymore trouble," I explained to him.

He pulled me back to him anyway, giving me a hug. "I don't care. You need to understand it's not your fault. You couldn't control your emotions because you were scared. I don't blame you," he reassured me.

He held me close to him and this time I didn't pull away. I was craving his contact as much as he was craving mine.

"Belikov! Hathaway!" a voice called from the door. We broke apart and looked at Alberta. "My office. Now!" She left us no room for argument.

We walked to her office in silence. In my head I pictured all sorts of different scenarios from Dimitri being fired, to me being expelled, to us being forced never to see each other again. Really sometimes it sucks having such an active imagination.

It felt like it took forever to get to Alberta's office even though it only took a couple of minutes. We sat down in front of her desk. A long silence stretched before us. Finally, Dimitri broke it. "Look Alberta, about what you just saw," Dimitri began.

Alberta waved him off. "I saw a friendly hug between two friends," she put an extra emphasis on friends.

"Then why are we here?" I asked before I could stop myself. Really I need to work on impulse control.

"I need to address some rumors that have been going around the school. I need to point out that they need to remain just rumors." Alberta looked at us sternly. "As far as I am concerned, Rose is your student, and you are her mentor. End of relationship. Understood?"

I looked at Dimitri confused. Did everyone know about us? And was everyone okay with it? Was Alberta saying we could see each other as long as we do it where no one can see us? I was so confused. His confusion mirrored mine.

"Also, Rose," she turned and looked at me. Her face softened. "I would like to thank you. You risked your life to save Dimitri. He is one of the best guardians I have ever seen and you showed true determination. You managed to bring him back to us, back to safety and still ward off the Strigoi. You have shown the skill of many beyond your years. I truly am proud of you."

I grinned at her words. Alberta doesn't give out praise lightly. "And Belikov. You are off duty on medical leave until classes pick up again." Dimitri looked at her horrified.

"What am I supposed to do exactly?" Dimitri asked her furious.

Alberta glanced at me, and then raised an eyebrow. Like really am I the only one that can't do that? She looked back at Dimitri. "I'm sure you find something."

"What – ah," Dimitri said with a smile. "I'm sure I will."

I looked back and forth between them, obviously confused. "What are you going to be doing if you're not on duty?" I asked him curiously.

Alberta then giggled. I kid you not. She giggled. Dimitri turned bright red. Then I realized what her words had implied and why she had looked at me before. Really I should have known better.

I turned red and looked at the floor. "Right." I said. Dimitri and I left her office shortly after.


	4. Chapter 4

"So… What's for dinner Comrade?" I asked him curiously as we walked to the cabin a discrete distance away from one another.

"We are cooking pasta, with meat sauce. And we are making brownies for dessert," he told me.

"That sounds delicious, but what's this whole cooking and we thing?" I asked him nervously.

"What? You can take on a whole army of Strigoi, but you can't cook?" He asked me jokingly.

"Comrade, I can't cook toast, let alone pasta and brownies," I warned him.

"I'll teach you." He promised. "Besides. I've heard I'm an excellent teacher."

"Conceited much?" I asked him jokingly, lightly punching him in the arm.

Finally we were behind the cover of the trees. He grabbed my hand as we made our way to the cabin.

We entered the cabin and I immediately looked at all the ingredients piled on the counter by the stove. "Are you actually going to use all this stuff?" I asked him surprised.

"Yep," he answered with a laugh.

I threw my arms up in the air. "You win. I'm going to take a nap while you cook," I told him.

"I don't think so. We're going to cook this together. Come here," he told me.

I went over to where he was standing. He showed me how to make the pasta. I kid you not. He couldn't just get a box of pre-shaped pasta. No that would be too easy. We have to do that ourselves. The dough takes too long to prepare though, so at least he did that ahead of time. I tried, and failed, to make the shapes he had showed me. It was a pretty pathetic excuse for pasta.

I put it in a giant pot of water, which I stood over obsessively and stirred. I watched Dimitri make the sauce. It was like watching a masterpiece unfold. He diced and cut and sliced the ingredients effortlessly. It only took him a couple of minutes to have a pot of sauce heating up on the stove.

"Stir Rose," he reminded me. I had lost track of stirring while I had watched him make the sauce. I quickly stirred it a few times to de-clump the pieces that had already begun to stick to the bottom of the pot.

"How long does this have to cook for again?" I asked impatiently.

Dimitri chuckled. "Ten to twelve minutes," he told me.

It had only been about five minutes. "Pasta takes too long to cook," I complained to him.

He laughed and pulled me close to him. I wiggled away. "I don't think so. I am not about to neglect my pasta like a certain someone is neglecting his sauce. This pasta will be perfect if I have anything to say about it!" I told him with certainty.

He just laughed, but went to check up on his sauce. He took a small spoonful and held it out to me to taste. It was delicious. "Eh. It's alright," I teased him.

He put on a face of mask hurt. "Obviously someone doesn't appreciate a decent home cooked meal," he joked. "You can drain the noodles now."

I did as he told me too. "Yum! I can't wait for dinner," I told him.

"I don't think so." He said, trying to look serious.

"Um… What?" I asked him confused.

"I don't want you to eat anything that's just okay," he said dramatically. "I mean who needs dinner?"

As if in answer, my stomach growled. Dimitri chuckled at me.

I went up to him and batted my eyelashes. "Can you really resist this face?" I asked him as I put on my most alluring puppy dog face.

He sighed and threw his arms up in the air. "I can't. You win," he said with a grimace.

I grinned at him and kissed him lightly. "I'll get the plates," I told him.

We sat at the little table in the cabin and started to eat our pasta. When we had finished eating, Dimitri stood up and got out a big mixing bowl. "Time to make brownies," he told me with a grin.

He assembled all the ingredients. I opened the bag of flower… well made it explode might be a better description. A cloud of flour engulfed me. Dimitri laughed at my shocked expression and the flour all over me. I took a handful of flour and threw it at him. He retaliated and soon we were in an all-out flour war.

"We match," I told him jokingly.

After that, we began to make the brownie batter. Dimitri laid out two brownie pans, and I put half the batter in one. Then I paused and tentatively smelled the batter than was left.

"Are you sure the eggs were still good Comrade? This smells weird."

He looked up confused. "Are you sure? Let me smell it." He told me.

I brought the mixing bowl over to him. He leaned his head down to smell it. Before he could lift up his head, I lifted up the bowl getting brownie batter all over his face.

For a split lesson he looked completely shocked. Then he recovered. "Good one Roza. Now come here and give me a kiss."

"Never," I laughed running away from him.

He chased after me and hooked an arm around my waist pulling me towards him. He kissed my cheek, leaving a blob of batter on my cheek. Then he brushed his hand across his cheek, scooping up more of the brownie mix and spread it across my forehead.

"We match," he told me jokingly, repeating my earlier words. I grinned at him. This was perfection.


	5. Chapter 5

My weeks with Dimitri passed in bliss. Before I knew it, my trials were right around the corner which meant Dimitri hid his 'I love Rose Hathaway' side and just showed me his badass mentor side. I'll admit, we stole a few kisses here and there, but they were just short stolen kisses. I spent most of my time getting my butt kicked by Dimitri. Admittedly, towards the end of our practice sessions, he would lighten up and hence our stolen kisses.

About a week before my trials, Dimitri had been playing Strigoi. We were evenly matched. He won half the time, and I won the other half. The final mock Strigoi attack Dimitri wanted to try was one that entailed him coming at me from the side. He tried to land a punch on my stomach, but I twisted out of the way. His next move brought me to the ground with him right on top of me. He was about to bite my neck, when I was hit by a stroke of genius. I kissed him which distracted him enough that I was able to roll him over. I 'staked' him.

"No fair," Dimitri jokingly whined.

"Never said I was going to fight fair Comrade," I teased him.

After that, I easily closed the distance between our lips. Our kiss was just getting heated when we heard a loud voice right outside the room we were practicing in.

"I'm sure that this room is available for you to practice in," Alberta said in a very loud voice.

Dimitri and I glanced at each other and sprung apart. Alberta left us no doubt. She was saving our butts… Again. She didn't need to talk that loudly, she did it for our benefit. Just as me and Dimitri had stood up a reasonable distance away from one another, Alberta entered the room with two senior novices and another guardian that mainly worked on the elementary campus.

"Belikov. Hathaway," she said nodded at us with a knowing glint in her eyes. I'll admit, me and Dimitri were a little ruffled, but that could easily be explained away by our practices. Still, I know Alberta knew exactly what was going on in here before she interrupted. "Is it alright in Barnes and Cristo use this room to practice for their trials?"

"Of course. We were just finishing up here," Dimitri said to her respectfully as he walked out of the room. I left right after him and Alberta soon followed.

"I needn't remind you that practice time is not an acceptable time to be distracted by anything, particularly this close to your trials Rose," Alberta told me.

"Why whatever do you mean Alberta?" I asked her, deciding to play dumb. I liked Alberta, but I couldn't pass up on this opportunity to be a smart ass. It's who I am.

She rolled her eyes at me and didn't answer my questions. "You both look exhausted. You should get some sleep." She started to walk away then paused, reconsidering her words. "And I mean sleep sleep," she said warningly.

"What other kind of sleep is there?" I asked batting my eyelashes innocently. "Dimitri do you know what she's talking about?" I asked turning towards him. I could see him struggling to keep his emotionless guardian mask on his face.

Alberta sighed. "Rose…" she said in a warning voice.

"What? I'm just trying to further my education. I mean Dimitri is my mentor right?" I asked her with a smile.

"You're combat instructor," Alberta pointed out.

"I think everyone here knows he's taught be a lot more than how to hit stuff," I told her.

"Rose," Alberta and Dimitri chastised at the same time.

"That's not even what I was talking about! I meant that he's done a kick-ass job teaching me self-control and giving me tips about being a guardian." I explained. "Not that I mind the other life experiences he's given me," I added under my breath. I don't think Alberta heard the last part, if she did she decided to ignore it. I could see Dimitri trying to bite down on his lip to keep him from laughing. His carefully composed guardian mask was shattered at this point and he just didn't want to be openly disrespectful.

"While he has done an excellent job in the instruction of all things guardian related, I hardly think it be appropriate for him to… uh… help you explore certain things," she said clearly running out of ways to beat around the bush and not openly talk and me and Dimitri having sex. Not that we were right now. Dimitri had to go and be all mentor-y and say we weren't going to have sex again until after my trials.

"But as my instructor, isn't his duty to prepare me for anything I might have to face in the real world? I certainly don't think he should intentionally limit my education." I said.

Alberta threw her hands up in the air. "I give up!" and she stormed away.

I turned towards Dimitri, ready to hear his Zen Master Wisdom crap. Instead, he pulled me into the shadows and kissed me. He pulled away after a few moments.

"You're not mad?" I asked him surprised.

"Do you want me to be mad?" He asked me with a smile.

"No, of course not, but I figured you would tell me I disrespected Alberta and that I shouldn't talk to her like that."

"Honestly I don't really know the protocol for when you're talking to the captain of the guardians about your sex life with your student," he said jokingly. "But regardless, you knew exactly what you were doing and Alberta found it funny. That's why she left when she did, she didn't think she would be able to refrain from laughing. I could see her struggling with it." Dimitri remarked.

"Really?" I asked him shocked.

"Really. Besides, as long as we don't get caught, I don't think Alberta really cares what we do. She's happy to see us happy and in love as long as we remain under the radar," he said kissing my cheek.

"So as far as sleeping goes?" I asked him suggestively.

He groaned. "You can sleep over, but it will be sleep sleep," he warned me.

"You're going to deny me this educational experience?" I asked him, pretending to look hurt.

"If you're worried about your education, I could help you with your homework or we could go back and practice," he told me.

I pretended to yawn. "You know Comrade, I'm really tired all of a sudden."


	6. Chapter 6

They were here. It was finally time for my trials. This was it, it was the day I would officially become a guardian. I was talking to Dimitri, we had spent last night in our cabin.

He grinned at me. "We really do need to go Rose. You're already late," he told me, but neither of us moved from our warm positions under the covers of the bed. Finally, he mustered up a lot of strength and pushed himself into a sitting position.

I sighed, knowing it was a lost cause. I needed to go to my trials. I really did want to go take them, but it was hard to pry myself from Dimitri's comfortable embrace. "Fine," I pouted.

"Roza, I wish we could stay in here all day. But you need to take your trials so you can graduate. And we can come back after your Promise Ceremony," the glint in his eye reminded me of his promise.

I ran out of bed and quickly got dressed, thoughts of what me and Dimitri would be doing later effectively motivating me. He laughed at my sudden change, no doubt immediately understanding my reasons.

Within five minutes, both of us were presentable as we made our way to the trials. Alberta narrowed her eyes as she looked at us. But she just pursed her lips and went back to the field the trials were taking place on.

We were in a makeshift waiting room in a giant tent. I sat down and Dimitri stood in front of me, pacing. He occasionally stopped to give me last minute advice.

"Calm down Comrade, you're more nervous than I am," I teased.

"Oh Roza, you shouldn't be so calm about this. This is serious," Dimitri warned me.

"Look. I highly doubt that this will be anything like what we faced when they attacked our school or when we went on the rescue mission. I am not nervous about this, because I know my abilities. I'm not trying to sound cocky, but I am a good novice and I know I can do this," I explained to him.

Dimitri just stared at me shocked, clearly unable to find a flaw in my argument. "You may be more experienced than the other novices, but there will still be guardian after guardian pretending to be Strigoi. You are an amazing novice, no one is arguing that, but you still need to be on your guard," he told me.

I sighed. I knew he was right, but I honestly couldn't make myself feel nervous. Nothing could compare to that split second in the caves when I decided I would rather die than not be with Dimitri. My sudden burst of strength there told me all I needed to know. I can do anything as long as I'm with Dimitri.

I know that's why I'll be okay on the trials. He may not be standing with me, but I know after the trials he will be right here waiting for me. And after my ceremony, we will be together.

"Roza," Dimitri looked at me confused. "You need to focus. What's distracting you?"

I turned red and didn't look at him. "Nothing," I lied.

Dimitri sighed. "Rose if I'm distracting you, I will leave," he told me in a light voice, making sure no one could overhear us.

"It's not you physically that's distracting me Comrade," I told him equally quietly, still not looking at him.

"What… oh!" Dimitri said. I chance a look up at him and I could see he was slightly red and there was an amused gleam in his eyes. "Well if that's the case, I'm going to revoke my offer…"

I just stared at him shocked. "What?" I almost yelled. Did he just say he wasn't going to sleep with me? I couldn't even form any more words. I felt rejection flow over me in waves. I looked away from him. I don't know why that hurt so bad, but it did. Maybe because he promised, and he never breaks his promises.

"Roza. Roza. Look at me," he ordered. I couldn't ignore a direct order like that. I looked up at him. "Let me finish will you? I'm going to revoke my offer if you don't start paying attention."

I breathed a sigh of relief. We were still going to be together tonight. My body had been craving him since that night in the cabin.

"Oh Roza, what am I going to do with you?" He asked me with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

I was spared having to answer him, when someone new entered the tent. I looked up at the new person, shocked.

My mother looked back at me with a small smile on her face. "Hello Rose," she said giving me a short hug. She stood next to Dimitri. "Are you nervous?" She asked me.

"No. What are you doing here?" I asked her confused.

"I wouldn't miss your trials. And… I um have someone I need you to meet…" she trailed off looked kind of uncomfortable.

"Who?" I asked even more confused than before.

"You'll meet him later tonight. At your graduation party," she told me briskly.

"My graduation party?" I asked, but it was too late. She had already walked away. I looked at Dimitri with a mixture of sadness and confusion.

"What's wrong?" He asked me concerned.

"I didn't know I had a graduation party. I guess we're going to have to delay our plans," I told him sadly.

"Don't worry. We have all night," he said winking at me.

My name was called. I gave Dimitri a quick hug and I walked out on to the field, ready to do anything.


	7. Chapter 7

My trials passed in a blur with guardian after guardian coming at me pretending to be Strigoi. I didn't look at their faces; I just focused on keeping my Moroi safe. Before I knew it, there were no more guardians coming towards me. Instead there were a bunch of bruised guardians standing before me clapping. I finally came to my senses and looked around. Everyone was cheering and clapping. I saw Alberta with a proud look in her eyes and a smile on her face.

Then I saw the person I had been looking for. I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. He hugged me close to him.

"I'm so proud of you! You were amazing!" He said to me, a smile in his voice.

"I did it! I did it!" I said to him almost a little bit in shock. We broke apart too soon. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to kiss me. He wanted to do a hell of a lot more, but we knew we couldn't, not yet. He led me to a bench. He made me sit down and drink water.

Then it seemed like everyone wanted to see me. My mom ran over and hugged me. Then Lissa and Christian, then Adrian. I was swamped with people, but I didn't care. I was so happy. I was going to graduate. I was a guardian.

After a couple of minutes, I went back to my room to shower. I got dressed and went to the Promise Ceremony.

It was a lot of standing, and it took a while for everyone in front of me to get their tattoos, but I barely noticed as the time passed. Before I knew it, it was my turn.

They announced my trial scores. It surprised even me. I mean I knew I did good, but not that good. I was grinning as I got my tattoo, barely feeling the pain because of my euphoria. After he finished, the tattooist showed me my promise mark. I knew it was going to be difficult for him, but he did a good job with it, snaking it around two molnija marks.

As I walked off the stage, I glanced at Dimitri. There was a smile on his face and pride in his eyes. The rest of the ceremony continued. The entire process took around an hour, because there were a lot of novices that had to get their promise mark.

Once it was over, the first person I found was Dimitri. I jumped into his arms and our lips immediately met. The kiss was short, but sweet. When we pulled apart, we were holding each other's hands and there was joy in our eyes. That was the first kiss that we didn't have to hide. I realized that we didn't have to hide anything anymore. We could be boyfriend and girlfriend in public now.

There was a cough behind us and I realized how close together we were standing. I let go of one of his hands, still holding the other tightly in my hand. I turned to see my mother and a strange man standing there with an expression that was a mix between amusement and annoyment. She came up to give me a hug and she gave Dimitri a glare. She told me when my graduation party would be. She looked a little nervous the whole time she was talking.

"Mom, what is it?" I finally asked, wanting to get to the bottom of what was making her so nervous.

"It's… um… Rose could we go somewhere quiet to talk?" She asked me. She walked towards the hallway. I followed her, pulling Dimitri with me. Whatever she had to tell me, I wanted Dimitri with me, especially if she wanted to talk to me about Dimitri. We went to the benches that were placed sporadically throughout the courtyard. Dimitri and I sat down side by side and looked up. I was surprised to see the strange man had followed her out. I looked at Dimitri confused, and he shrugged back at me.

"Well the first thing I wanted to address was this… thing with Guardian Belikov," she started. I sighed. I had known this was coming. "While I am not happy about the age difference, I realize that you two must truly care for each other. I suspected it the first time I came here, but I didn't realize the extent of it until we went on our rescue mission. When you risked your life for Guardian Belikov, I realized that you really loved him. You did a good job hiding it, until them. I have never seen anyone so determined to keep another man alive. Who am I to interfere with that?" She said to me.

I realized I was staring at her shocked, my mouth was practically to the ground. I never expected to hear anything like that come out of her mouth. She continued. "I also talked to Alberta and she explained the changes she's seen in you since Dimitri became your mentor. I am to understand that he had been a remarkably good influence on you. Alberta urged me to let you two continue your relationship. At first I was reluctant, but now I must agree with her."

My jaw dropped lower if that was possible. "I… uh… don't know what to say." I ran up to my mom and hugged her.

"I'm still not happy about it," she told me. "But if this is what you want, I'll learn to get used to it."

"You're still too young for him," the strange man said.

"And who are you to tell me I'm too young for him old man?" I asked him annoyed. Why should I care about what he thinks.

"Because I'm your father," he told me with a grin. That's when I ran away. I couldn't believe it. My father?


	8. Chapter 8

I ran to the cabin, knowing Dimitri would find me no matter what. I climbed into the bed and cocooned myself in the blanket, my thoughts on when Dimitri and I had first had sex. After we had done it, we lay tangled under the blanket and talked. Our conversation had been deep at some points and superficial at others. It was a memory I cherished. Dimitri found me with the blanket pressed close to my face and tears in my eye. He pulled me close to him and I cried into his chest.

"Oh Roza, I know it's hard. I know you weren't expecting this, but everything's going to be okay," he told me soothingly.

"How? How could he just show up one day and say 'hi I'm your father'?" I cried.

Dimitri hugged me tighter. "I don't know. Maybe he was scared to meet you before now. Or maybe your mother didn't want you to meet him until you graduated. There could be so many things."

I knew he was right. He held me close while I cried myself out. When I had finished crying, he still held me. "You need to get ready for your graduation party," he reminded me as he broke our embrace.

"I don't want to go," I told him grumpily.

"Yes you do. Your just angry about your father," Dimitri pointed out. I hated when he was right. He helped me stand up and he walked me back to my dorm. We walked hand in hand, attracting several stares.

When we got to my room, I expected him to leave, but instead he sat down on my bed and waited for me.

I decided to take another shower and when I came back to my room in my towel, he was still there, sitting patiently on my bed. When I came back his eyebrows shot up. "Why… why didn't you get dressed in the bathroom?" He asked me trying to sound like it was no big deal.

I winked at him. "I forgot my bra," I said to him with a mischievous grin.

"You're not going to make this easy for me are you?" He asked me, a hint of a strain in his voice.

"Make what easier?" I asked innocently. I went to my closet and grabbed my skimpiest black bra. I spun to face him, twirling my bra on my finger.

He groaned. "You have a graduation party to get to," he said. It seemed like he was warning himself more than me.

"And when have I ever been on time for anything?" I asked him.

He was clearly still trying to convince himself that we shouldn't do anything. That's not what I wanted. "Oops," I said as I intentionally dropped my towel. His eyes almost popped out of his head and any of his self-control vanished. He ran over to me and kissed me. It was a long passionate kiss. When I tried to pull his shirt off, he grabbed my wrists.

"We really can't do anything," he told me, but I saw in his eyes that he really wanted to. "You have to get dressed!"

I was about to object when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at Dimitri panicked. "Who is it?" I called.

"It's your mother… And your father…" She said hesitantly.

I looked at Dimitri, now terrified. "Just a minute," I told my mother. I quickly got dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and pushed Dimitri into my closet.

I went to open my door and my mom was standing outside, looking at me nervously. She was afraid of what my reaction would be. Well I wasn't going to disappoint her. "What do you want?" I asked her in my most bitchy voice.

Her eyes narrowed a little bit. "We wanted to come talk to you and walk you to your party. We could wait outside while you get ready," she offered.

"Dimitri is going to walk me to the party," I told her stiffly.

She made a face at his name. Despite her speech before, she really wasn't okay with me dating the man that used to be my mentor. "We would really like to talk to you…" she started.

"Well I have no interest in talking to either one of you right now, so if you don't mind leaving so I could get ready," I requested angrily.

"We'll talk later," my mom said warningly.

"Maybe," I said to her.

She and my Dad walked out of my room. I walked to my door and waited until they had disappeared around the corner. Then I went to my closet and pulled Dimitri out. He hugged me and kissed me gently.

I took off my shirt and shorts and heard Dimitri groan behind me. Ignoring him, I went to my closet and took out my dress. When I was fully dressed, I brushed my hair and put on a little bit of make-up. I didn't do anything special, but I didn't feel the need to.

Dimitri came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. He kissed my cheek. "You look beautiful Roza," he told me affectionately.

I grinned at him and turned so I could kiss him. We broke apart too soon and started to walk to my party. I held onto his hand tightly.

We walked into the room my party was being held in. Everyone cheered for me, and I found myself grinning back at them. Everyone came up to congratulate me. I smiled and hugged everyone.

It was a little awkward when Tasha came up to congratulate me. It was extremely obvious that she was not over Dimitri yet. She flirted with him and I could tell from the way he tightened his hold on my hand that she made him uncomfortable. Regardless, I tried to be civil towards her. It was just really hard.

My biggest shock of the night came when Eddie came to congratulate me. "How did your trials go?" I asked him.

"They were good. A little tricky towards the end of the maze when I had to fight three or four guardians at once in that enclosed space," he told me.

"Maze?" I asked him confused. "I didn't go through a maze…"

Dimitri's hold on my hand tightened again and I glanced at him just in time to see him throw a warning glance towards Eddie.

"Dimitri?" I asked him.

He didn't look at me as he said, "You had a different scenario than everyone else."

"What? How is that fair?" I asked him annoyed.

Eddie looked confused. "Why did she have a different scenario?" He asked curiously.

"Because her real life experience surpasses that of her peers," Dimitri explained. "The other guardians did not feel it would be fair to put her in the same situation. Though I do believe you got your revenge when you broke the bridge Rose."

I grinned at the memory. "What else was I supposed to do?" I asked him.

"I honestly don't think they knew," Dimitri admitted.

I was angry about it, but I soon got enveloped in the festivities. I successfully avoided my parents and before I knew it, the party was over and Dimitri was leading me back to his room.


	9. Chapter 9

Four days after the rest of the school graduated, I woke up in Dimitri's arms. I was really tired as I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I grinned at Dimitri as memories from the night before came back to me. It was our last night at the Academy, and we wanted to make it memorable. He woke up and looked back at me with a goofy smile on his face. I looked over him to his bedside table. We still had four hours before we had to report to the Academy airport to go to the royal Moroi Court.

"So Comrade, what are we doing today?" I asked him with a smile.

"Are you ever going to stop calling me Comrade?" He asked me.

"Never. Besides I know you secretly like it," I teased him.

"What makes you say that?" He asked curiously.

"Because I can see how the corners of your lips go up in a smile every time I say it. I can see how your eyes light up a little bit. I can't really explain it, but I just know. It makes you feel special kind of like how you calling me Roza makes me feel special," I told him honestly and I could see I hit the mark.

He looked at me shocked. "How do you just know these things?"

"I just do. Like how you know things about me that no one else sees," I pointed out to him.

He nodded in agreement. "Point taken."

"So back to my initial question. What are we doing today?"

"Whatever you want to do," he told me kissing my forehead.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door. While I was no longer his student, it would still be awkward for someone to walk in on Dimitri being with me. Dimitri at least was in boxers. I was completely naked. He pointed towards his wardrobe as he put on his pajama pants. I climbed in and listened carefully.

I heard Alberta's voice. "Belikov. I came here to te… Is Rose here?"

I started to hold my breath, sure that she heard my breathing. "Rose?" Dimitri asked playing dumb.

"Unless you suddenly fit in a small dress and wear a pink bra?" Alberta asked amused. I was confused for a second, then remembered that Dimitri had thrown my clothes in the corner.

Dimitri sighed in resignation. "Rose come out," Alberta called. I quickly grabbed one of Dimitri's t-shirts. It fit me like a tent, but it covered everything I needed it to. I walked out of his wardrobe a little embarrassed. Dimitri's face was bright red and I'm sure mine was too.

"Hi Alberta," I said quietly, not looking at her.

Alberta laughed. "You know you guys don't have to hide anymore right? You're legally allowed to be together. And it's okay for you to come here and talk to him now." Alberta then seemed to take in my attire and glanced at my clothes in the corner. Then she was the one who was turning red. "I'm sorry if I was… um… interrupting anything. Just wanted to say that you will be missed. We… um hope you'll come visit sometime and the same goes for you Rose."

Then Alberta shut the door as quickly as possible. Dimitri and I looked at each other red-faced.

"Well that was awkward," I said.

Dimitri chuckled. "I agree."

I went back to his bed and sat down. "You might not get this shirt back. It's very comfy," I told him.

"But that's one of my favorite shirts," Dimitri pouted.

"You want it back?" I asked him. He nodded at me suspiciously. "Then take it back," I told him.

He grinned at me. "You're eventually going to have to take it off to get dressed," he pointed out to me.

I sighed. I was going to have to figure out a way to keep it. Just then, my stomach growled. "Breakfast?" I asked him hopefully.

He glanced towards the little kitchen area in his room. "I think I have pancake powder and I know I have eggs and bacon. How does that sound?" He asked me.

"Do you even have to ask?" I asked him jokingly.

"No, not really," Dimitri admitted. He got up and started making breakfast. He even wore an apron. I had to hide my giggle when I realized that. Pretty soon, the smell of bacon drifted through his room. Remembering the last time we cooked together, I stayed far away from the kitchen. I had no intention of coming out of this covered in pancake goop, plus I was really hungry.

When he had finished cooking, he made two huge plates. His pancakes were heavenly. They were light and fluffy, I felt like I was eating a cloud. After I was full, I helped him clean the dishes. Once that was done, we grabbed our luggage and got ready to leave the Academy. We're off to face an uncertain future. I grabbed his hand and I knew I could live with what comes as long as we face it together.


	10. Chapter 10

"I… what?" I asked Dimitri nervously. I had a lot to distract me. We had been at the Moroi Court for three weeks now. My classmates and I were still eagerly anticipating our assignments. I only wanted to be assigned to one Moroi and I hoped my accomplishments over rode the two years of school I missed. I also had to hide what me and Lissa had been discussing before I came home to the apartment me and Dimitri shared. I had been thinking about all of that so I was sure I must have misheard Dimitri when he asked me if I wanted to go to Russia with him to meet his family.

"Will you come with me to Siberia? I really want my family to meet you. I know you'll love them! And I want you to meet them," he told me. I did want to meet his family, but that idea scared the hell out of me. What if they don't like me?

"When?" I asked him.

"In a week. I already asked my mom and she said we could stay as long as we want. I was thinking two weeks. Then we'll be back before new assignments are handed out," he said to me hopefully. I knew he missed Siberia. I still think it's an Arctic wasteland, but I want to make him happy.

"Okay. I'll go with you," I promised him.

"Oh Roza, thank you!" He said as he leaned towards me. He kissed me passionately, euphoric that I had agreed to this.

We decided to go to the gym and practice. We both still needed to stay in shape and we were so used to practicing with one another that it was a comfortable routine we slipped into when we came to Court.

We had been practicing offensive and defensive maneuvers. Dimitri decided it was the last set, then we would stretch and head home. I tackled Dimitri and pinned him to the ground. He was bigger than me and stronger than me so I rarely was able to beat him like this. Before he could roll over, I kissed him.

"Tell me about your family," I asked him when we broke apart, something I was dying to know about.

"I've already practically told you everything about them. What more could you want to know?" He asked as he stretched.

"Well you've told me who your family is, but you haven't told me anything about them. I know you have three sisters right?" I asked.

"Yes. Karolina, Sonya, and Viktoria," he told me.

"What are they like?" I asked him.

"Karolina is the practical one. She is very logical and thinks things through very thoroughly before doing anything. Sonya is completely the opposite. She is wild and impulsive, but she's funny and she has a huge heart. Viktoria is like me in so many ways. She's always been closest to me, because she's the little sister and I've always been very over protective of her," he told me. He had a far off gleam in his eyes which made me think he was mentally in Siberia right now. I loved the way he adored his family.

We finished our stretches and walked back to our apartment hand in hand. When we had first come to Court, we had attracted a lot of stares and whispers. Dhampir pairings were unheard of, especially since we couldn't reproduce with one another. Once people had realized that we were still guardians, their whispers died down, but we could still see people pointing at us as we walked.

I was grateful when we finally got back to our apartment. We showered and Dimitri got ready for duty, while I got ready to go out with Lissa. Dimitri was assigned to be Christian's guardian, but because Christian was worthless… I mean uncertain about his future, he had a permanent residence at Court. Therefore, Dimitri had to take shifts to guard the Court like he had at the Academy. He worked the same time every day and it was nice to have some regularity to his schedule.

When Dimitri was about to leave for work, I kissed him on his cheek. "Have a good day at work. I'll see you in a couple of hours," I told him, kissing him full on the lips this time. It was a short, but passionate kiss. Lissa was always teasing me about how I couldn't keep my hands to myself when I'm around Dimitri, but I couldn't help myself.

"Bye Roza," he said kissing my forehead. "I'll see you tonight," he promised.

A couple of minutes after he left, Lissa started to knock on the door. I went down to open it. She looked at what I was wearing and nodded to let me know it was appropriate for whatever she had planned. I was wearing a blue diamond sundress. I had left my hair down and it fell to my lower back.

I followed Lissa out the door. The first thing we did was go shopping. She seemed to have a specific purpose in mind. She kept saying things like, "no that dress isn't appropriate for this." And "that dress isn't the right color" and "that dress isn't your style."

"Lissa why are you looking for a dress for me?" I asked her curiously when I gave up on trying to understand what she was looking for.

"I'm trying to find two dresses for you Rose," she told me.

"Well what are they for?" I asked her. She was hiding something from me, but I couldn't figure out what. I knew it took a lot of effort for her to hide something from me so I knew this must be big.

"Well you need a dress for when you meet Dimitri's family," she explained to me, clearly hoping I wouldn't ask her about the other.

"And the other?" I asked.

I saw a mischievous smile flit across her face. "You'll find out soon enough," she told me.

I sighed and allowed her to pull me all over the shopping centers at Court in search of the perfect dresses.


	11. Chapter 11

When Lissa walked me back to my apartment, I started to get a little suspicious. But she left when I got in so I didn't have a chance to ask her why she was acting so strangely today. I went to our bedroom and put my clothes away.

I heard Dimitri come in a couple of hours later. When I got to the lounge of our apartment, I saw Dimitri standing there looking a little nervous. He smiled when he saw me. "How would you feel about going out tonight?" Dimitri asked me with a grin.

I smiled at him. We had only been out a handful of times since we came to Court. "I would love that," I told him.

A few hours later, I was in one of the new dresses I had bought with Lissa. Dimitri was in black slacks and a white button down shirt. He looked amazing. He grabbed my hand and we walked towards the Court gardens. We went to the opposite side of the gardens where a beautiful view was waiting for us.

We could see the sun rise against the mountains. Right now it was a starry night, but the sun was already peeking out. I took in the table cloth on the ground with little candles outlining it. To complete the picture, there was a giant picnic basket to the side of the basket.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Who ever knew you had a romantic side?" I asked him teasingly.

"I admit it. You've turned me into a helpless romantic," he told me dramatically.

"Glad I could help," I told him with a grin.

He led me over to the table cloth. We sat down and he pulled the picnic basket closer to him. He pulled out an entire pepperoni pizza. My stomach grumbled just looking at it. He took out a plate and put two slices of pizza on it then handed it to me. He took some for himself.

"Cheers," he said to me as he tapped his slice of pizza against the one I was holding like how people clang champagne glasses. I giggled. As we ate, he told me more about his family. I couldn't wait to meet them. It was so obvious that he absolutely adored his family and I loved seeing him so excited about something.

As our evening progressed, he got more and more nervous. I tried to figure out what could be making him so nervous, but I couldn't for the life of me.

We devoured the entire pizza and then he pulled out a plate of giant brownies. Oh he knew me too well. As we ate the brownies we talked some more. I loved the moments when me and Dimitri could just sit back and talk to one another. Don't get me wrong, I love the physical stuff too, it's just when we talk, our connection strengthens.

Once we finished eating the brownies, we lay down on the table cloth and looked up at the stars. While the sun was rising, the sky right above us was still dark and starry. I lay in his arms and we pointed out the shapes we saw in the clouds.

"That one looks like a dinosaur," he pointed out a particular group of stars to me.

"You're right," I agreed. "That one looks like a unicorn."

We went back and forth for a while. Then Dimitri pulled me to a sitting position so we could watch the sunrise. I leaned my head against his shoulder as we watched. It was absolutely breathtaking.

"This is beautiful," I told him staring transfixed at the sunrise.

He shifted away from me. At first I started to protest. "I'm just getting something from the basket. I'll be right back," he promised me.

When he came back, he made me stand up. "Close your eyes," he told me.

I reluctantly agreed. He knew I didn't like surprises. I would rather he come right out and tell me or give me whatever he had to. But I was a much more direct person.

My imagination started to go wild with ideas of what he may be doing. He might have gotten me a necklace or something. Or maybe he found out who I am going to be guarding. I immediately dismissed that idea as I wouldn't need to close my eyes for him to tell me that. I sighed, unable to figure out what the big surprise was.

"Okay, open your eyes," he told me.

I opened my eyes and I saw the sun shining behind him. It lit him up, making him look like more of a God than he already is. There was a light breeze that blew his hair a little bit, making him look like a model.

But that's not what held my focus. All of my attention was on the man standing in front of me… or I should say kneeling. He had huge smile on his face. He was holding a beautiful ring. It was a twist of white gold and silver with a large diamond in the middle and two smaller diamonds on each side.

Everything Lissa had been saying all day suddenly fell into place. She knew about this and helped me pick out the perfect dress. I could hear my heart pounding as he started to speak. "Rosemarie Hathaway. From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I loved you. We went through so much together, but that only strengthened our love. Will you marry me?" He asked. His eyes were looking at me so full of warmth and love.

I looked back at him happier than I've ever been as he said the words I never thought I'd hear. Will you marry me? I looked back at him. Of course I wanted to marry him. I couldn't get the words out quick enough.

"Yes," I said quietly. "Yes, yes, yes," I said getting louder. "Of course I'll marry you." Then I threw myself at him and kissed him. When we broke apart it was so he could put the ring on my finger.


	12. Chapter 12

It was the night before we were leaving for Siberia. Dimitri and I were on our way to go tell my mom about our engagement. I was fidgeting nervously. I hadn't talked to my mom since I yelled at her before my graduation party. Not that she didn't deserve the silent treatment, but I wanted her to be part of my wedding and I knew I needed to make amends now.

I knocked on her door, praying she was alone. As it turns out, she was. She opened the door and looked at me shocked. "Rose?" She asked, unsure of herself.

"Can I come in?" I asked her, trying not to sound bitchy.

"Oh, yes of course," she said stepping aside so me and Dimitri could come in. She led us to the living room. She sat down stiffly in one of the chairs. Dimitri and I sat side by side on the couch.

"Mom we have some good news for you," I told her. I could see her trying to figure out what it was, but she couldn't think of what it could be. I decided to come right out and tell her. "Dimitri proposed to me," I said showing her the ring.

She was quiet for a long time. I glanced at Dimitri concerned. He looked back unsure of what to do. Finally she spoke, "You're sure that this is what you want to do?"

I looked up at her with certainty in my eyes. "With all my heart," I told her. I left no room for doubt that I meant my words.

She nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" I asked her shocked.

"What else do you want me to say?" She asked me with a smile. You're an adult now and as much as I wish I could control you, I can't. I know this is what you want."

I just looked at her shocked. She got up and hugged me. "Help me plan my wedding?" I asked her hopefully. She pulled back and looked at me, her eyes widening. "Lissa wants to help to. I need someone to reign her in.'

"I… Of course! I would love to!" She said. I could see she already had ideas swirling around in her head. "I'm going to go find Vasilisa," she said to me. That was a dismissal if I ever heard one.

Dimitri and I followed her to the door. The sun would be rising soon and we decided to take a walk around Court. We had walked for over an hour when we decided to walk back to our apartment. Moroi were settling in for sleep so the Court had quieted down.

I grabbed Dimitri's hand when I saw a shadow enter the queens' chambers. They would have to get around the guards, but I decided to follow her just the same. I paused and glanced at Dimitri. He nodded already knowing what I was going to do. He ran off to find some guardians. I followed the shadow and found only one guardian with a goofy smile on his face.

Something was wrong. He let me go on in without any questions. The queen should have at least four guardians outside her chambers. Something was very wrong. I walked in and my heart nearly stopped. The shadow was actually someone dressed all in black. From the height I would guess it was a Moroi. They were holding a stake and were standing over Tatiana. I realized they were going to stake her. "Tatiana!" I yelled, finding my voice. Tatiana woke up and rolled over just in time to avoid the stake. It's no secret that I don't like the queen and that she doesn't like me, particularly after she passed the age decree. Sending dhampirs out when their sixteen is a suicide mission. But as much as I disagreed with her, I didn't want to see her dead.

I lunged at the Moroi. We were in the shadows so I couldn't see their face. I grabbed the hand that held the stake and paused in shock. "That's my stake," I said confused. That's when the hood of her sweatshirt fell down and I saw her face. I was looking at Tasha Ozera. My hesitation was all she needed to break away. I could hear footsteps coming back as I grabbed her again. "Why do you have my stake?" I asked her determined to get answers.

"After I stake the queen, everyone will think that you did it. They'll find your stake with your fingerprints. I'll get rid of you once and for all," she told me. I noticed then that she was wearing gloves.

"I'll tell them the truth or Tatiana will," I warned her.

"Tatiana's not going to be alive to tell the truth. Who do you think they're going to believe? A reckless dhampir or a Royal Moroi?" She asked me mockingly. I knew she was right.

"What did I ever do to you?" I asked, trying to avoid her swipes with the stake. It wasn't easy. Tasha was well trained. People started to enter the chambers, but I didn't pay attention. Tasha and I were practically wrestling and I needed to focus on that.

"You took away Dimka," she told me narrowing her eyes. "We could have had a future together. I could have given him the thing he wanted the most: a family. He could have children with me. Something he can never have with you."

That distracted me and she was able to push me off her. The guardians grabbed me, assuming I attacked an innocent Moroi. I struggled against them. Tasha must have looked like a hero to them. She looked like she stopped me from killing the queen.

Tasha picked up the stake and I knew what she was going to do. I glanced towards Tatiana where she stood frozen and unable to move. Tasha moved right in front of her, pretending to try to comfort her. The guardians couldn't see the stake, but I could. I broke free of my captors and got in between Tatiana and Tasha just in time for Tasha to push her stake through my stomach. I heard someone crying my name. The last thing I saw before the blackness engulfed me was the face of an angel… no of a God.


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up in a comfy bed. The sun was shining through the window. I briefly wondered if I was in heaven. I tried to sit up so I could look around, but it hurt too much. I groaned a little at the sudden onslaught of pain. Obviously not heaven so maybe I'm in hell. "Roza," a voice I would recognize anywhere asked. I looked at him confused. He didn't belong here. He couldn't be dead too. Could Tasha have turned on everyone? Would she have been able to take on all those guardians?

Dimitri saw the confusion and worry in my eyes. "You're all right. You survived," he told me soothingly.

"I'm not in hell?" I asked him confused.

His eyes darkened. "Why would you think you are in hell?"

"Because there's no way I could have survived the stake. And I don't think God would make me suffer in heaven," I explained.

"You're alive," he told me. I looked at him. I suddenly needed him to kiss me, to prove this was real. I tried to get up, but he was at my side in a second. "No, you need to rest," he warned me.

"Then come here," I ordered him. He looked at me and immediately knew what I wanted. He pressed his lips gently to mine, but broke apart too soon. Now I knew I was awake. "How did I survive?" I asked him.

He frowned. "You pulled through it. No one thought you were going to make it. You had a lot of internal injuries," he explained to me. "Then you were sleeping for a long time. I didn't know if you were going to wake up."

I finally got a good look at him. He looked exhausted. "How long was I asleep for?" I asked him.

"About three days," he told me.

"Did you sleep at all Comrade?" I asked him concerned.

"That's what I love about you. You almost died but you're still thinking about me," he said kissing my forehead. I didn't say anything, waiting for him to answer my question. He sighed. "I dozed off a few times. That chair is more comfortable than it looks," he admitted.

I realized that he hadn't left my room since I was staked.

I scooted over a little bit in bed and patted the area next to me. He obediently slid into the bed. You'd think after sleeping for three days I wouldn't be tired, but I was exhausted.

"Let's get some sleep Comrade," I told him. I snuggled into his chest, ignoring the pain that came with my movement.

He kissed my cheek, then my other cheek, then my forehead. Then he lightly kissed my lips, breaking apart before the kiss could pick up in intensity. "Goodnight Roza. I love you," he told me.

"Love you too Comrade." I fell asleep in his embrace. Both of us slept for a very long time.

When I woke up the next morning, Dimitri was looking at me with loving eyes. I felt a burst of happiness. He leaned down and kissed me. "The doctor says we'll get to go home tomorrow," he told me, joy in his eyes.

"You can go home anytime you want," I pointed out to him.

"Oh Roza, I'm not going anywhere without you," he promised me.

My brief moment of joy was crushed when Tasha's words came back to me.

"You took away Dimka," she told me narrowing her eyes. "We could have had a future together. I could have given him the thing he wanted the most: a family. He could have children with me. Something he can never have with you."

I realized that I could never fully give Dimitri what he wanted. Dimitri looked at me concerned. "What's wrong Roza?"

"It's… Nothing," I told him, trying to hold back tears.

He pulled me close to him. "You can tell me. I might be able to help," he told me.

"It's just… Everything Tasha said to me was true," I started. I felt Dimitri stiffen slightly. "She could have given you what you wanted. I can never give you a family. We can never have babies. That part of you cannot be filled by me," I said tears pouring down my cheek.

"You already have given me a family. Roza, you're all I need to be happy. I knew being with you would mean I couldn't have children and I accepted it. The only baby worth having would be one that you and I created. If I can't have that baby then I don't want a baby at all," he told me with such conviction in his eyes that I couldn't help but believe him.

I pulled his face closer to mine. He kissed me passionately, almost forgetting I was injured for a moment. When we broke apart, he took a minute to come back to earth. When he did, he started to examine me to make sure he didn't hurt me. I rolled my eyes at him. I was perfectly fine. I had a fiancé who was okay with not being able to have children with me. He wasn't going to run off with some stuck up Moroi. I was alive. Damaged, but alive. My life couldn't get any better.

I froze. Or maybe it could. Dimitri looked at me concerned. I took a deep breath then finally told him my theory. He didn't object or tell me it was a ridiculous notion. He just looked back at me with eyes filled with hope. "Do you really think it is possible?" He asked me.

"It's worth the try. If it doesn't work, no harm done," I pointed out. "I need to talk to Lissa… or well we do, because you're not allowed to leave," I told him with a grin.

He returned my smile and pulled out his cell phone. "Lissa? It's Dimitri. Rose wants to see you," he said into his phone. I could hear the squeal coming through the phone. She didn't say anything back, she just hung up on him. If I had a guess, she was probably sprinting towards whatever room I am in. Dimitri started to get off the bed, but I held his arms and protested. He looked at me briefly then nodded in consent. I was realizing how close I had come to losing him forever. I didn't want to waste a minute of time we had together.

Lissa suddenly ran into my room, red-faced and out of breath. "Rose," she breathed before giving me a light hug.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey Liss! How are you?" I asked with a smile. I reached through the bond to see how she's feeling and my smile falters. The bond is gone. "The bond?" I ask her confused.

"It's gone," she said confirming my suspicions.

"How did you know?"

"Adrian saw it when he was looking at our auras. He saw that we were no longer connected. All the darkness in your aura immediately disappeared."

"Oh man. But the darkness. I won't be able to take it from you. Who knows what will happen then?" I asked worried. I had seen Lissa's darkness at its worst. I had experienced the darkness. When the darkness overwhelms you and someone makes you angry it's like they suddenly became the source of all evil in the world and you thought they deserved to be punished… they deserved to be hurt. Your rational mind knows that they aren't the reason behind all evil, but your rational mind isn't working when the darkness takes over. Nothing good comes out of the darkness and the idea of Lissa having to do that on her own frightened me.

"That is my responsibility. That never should have been your burden to bear," Lissa told me. "If it gets too bad I can go back on the medications. I would rather be sane and unable to touch my magic than insane with my magic."

"I really hope it works out Liss. And you know I'm here for anything you need," I told her trying to hide my worry.

"It will be fine Rose. And honestly, I'm happy you can't slip into my head anymore," she admitted.

"Me too. I've seen more of Christian than I ever wanted to see in my lifetime," I said wincing. I was grateful that I wouldn't get sucked into her head when she was having some alone time with Christian… ew.

I smiled at Lissa. I was worried about how she would deal with spirit, but there was nothing I could do about it but support her. I realized that I couldn't ask her to do anything that involved her using more spirit. Lissa and I had discussed this once, but that was when I could suck the darkness out of her.

She smiled back. "Now I believe there was something you wanted to ask me," she started.

"I… I can't ask it from you anymore," I admitted sadly. Lissa looked at me confused. I looked at Dimitri trying to get him to understand. He smiled at me sadly and nodded. He mouthed, they come first.

That's what did it for me. I closed my eyes for a brief second and thought about it. For my whole life, I was trained to protect and defend Lissa. I tried to make her life as easy as possible. I took the effects of the darkness away from her. I made sure no one hurt her when we were out in the human world and at St. Vladimir's. I jumped in front of Tasha so Tatiana wouldn't die.

But then I realized, I didn't always put her first. When Dimitri was out in the caves, I was prepared to die to be with Dimitri. I spared no thought for my best friend and who would guard her if we died. That was one instance where I didn't choose her, I chose Dimitri. I realized this would be the second.

"Actually Liss. Do you remember when we finally had a chance to sit down and talk after you found out about me and Dimitri?" I asked her.

Her eyes sparkled. She instantly understood. "Yes. Are you saying…" She trailed off.

I nodded at her. "The only thing is. I'm worried about how using that spirit might affect you," I admitted.

She shook her head. "I've looked into it. It's not exactly a one-time thing so to say, so if you wanted more children after I've healed your infertility once, I would have to do it again, but the spirit use is small according to my research. St. Vladimir was able to heal someone's infertility twice. Once it was a human who for medical reasons couldn't reproduce. That was a one-time heal, because he healed what was wrong with them. The other was a dhampir. I would have to research it a little more. I'm still not sure if it is completely possible, but I'll try," she promised me.

Dimitri grabbed my hand, his face shining with hope. "How long will you need?"

"I don't know. A week or two." Lissa said.

"Great. That gives us plenty of time," he said.

"Time for what?" Lissa and I asked at the same time.

Dimitri chuckled and looked at me. "Time for you to meet my family."

I grinned at him. "I guess that makes sense. I did kind of ruin our first attempt didn't I?" I asked with a sigh.

"That wasn't your fault," he told me. "If it weren't for you, the queen would be dead. You did a great thing and all it did was delay our plans, not ruin them." He kissed my forehead. I looked at him, really wanting him to kiss me. I could see he really wanted to kiss me too, but then he glanced at Lissa.

Lissa glanced back at us, reading our auras. "I think I have to go do some more research. I'll leave you two alone…" She said smiling at us. She winked at me before she walked out.

I looked back at Dimitri and he finally returned my request for a kiss. He broke apart too soon for my liking. "You know, I really wished you cared less for my well-being sometimes," I told him.

"I'm not going to risk hurting you now. Besides that would make things more difficult, because then you'd never be fully healed and well…" He trailed off. I blushed, realizing what he meant. He wouldn't have sex with me until I was fully healed and he really wanted to have sex with me. I could see it in his eyes. So he was going to avoid working me up while we were kissing.

I rolled my eyes at him and kissed him gently. "A kiss isn't going to stop me from getting better," I pointed out to him.

"No, but…"

He was interrupted by two guardians walking in, with an unhappy doctor behind them. "Her Royal Highness, Queen Tatiana request an audience with Guardian Rosemarie Hathaway," one of the guardians said formally.


	15. Chapter 15

Dimitri helped me into a wheel chair with an angry look on his face. When the guardians had told him he had to wait here, he threw a hissy fit. I briefly remembered when we had been cleaning the church.

"It is a big deal!" I hissed. "And you don't seem to get it."

"I do get it. Do you really think I want to see Victor loose? Do you think I want us all at risk again?" It was the first time in a long time I'd seen his control on the verge of snapping. "But I told you, I've done all I can do. I'm not like you - I can't keep making a scene when things don't go my way."

"I do not."

"You're doing it right now."

He was right. Some part of me knew I'd crossed a line ... but just like with everything else recently, I couldn't stop talking.

I chuckled as I remembered that. Can't make a scene huh? The guards agreed that he could escort me to the queen, but that he would have to wait outside. He wasn't happy with it, but he would take it.

"Can't make a scene when things don't go your way?" I asked him jokingly.

He rolled his eyes at me. "This is different," he said.

"Not really," I pointed out. He rolled his eyes again, but he smiled this time.

He pushed my wheelchair, not letting the other guardians come close to me. I tried not to laugh, but it was pretty funny to see a six foot seven Russian guy throw a tantrum over me.

When we got to the room the queen was in, Dimitri stopped pushing me. He kissed my forehead. "I'll be right here," he promised.

I nodded to him and took a deep breath. Then I let another guardian push me into the room.

Tatiana was sitting in an intricate chair, she looked up when I was wheeled in. She didn't smile, but I thought I saw a twinkle in her eye. When I looked closer, it was gone. I figured I just imagined it.

"Guardian Hathaway," she said nodding at me.

"Queen Tatiana," I said, nodding in return.

She stood up and walked over to me. "Let's get strait to the point," she said. I was glad. I wanted to know what she wanted. "You've never liked me and I've never like you. That's something we can both agree on right?"

I just stared at her shocked.

She took that to mean I agreed. "Given our past history, no one can deny that we have never gotten along. You however, were able to put your animosity for me aside the day Natasha Ozera tried to kill me. You managed to warn me about her initial attack, giving me just enough time to get out of the way. That was the first time that night you saved my life. As I watched you and Tasha fight, I froze. I am not used to having to react to fights. Usually someone in my guard will pull me into a guarded room at the first hint of a fight. Actually seeing one, it was like I could no longer control myself. I couldn't make myself move. Tasha took advantage of that and tried to stake me again. Once again, you saved my life. You managed to get around two formidable guardians and took the stake yourself. You almost died for me and I am extremely grateful. I never would have thought you capable of that, but I now realize I may have judged you too soon."

My jaw practically hit the floor. She was thanking me? Queen Tatiana was thanking me and telling me she was wrong. I must have died, because there is no way she could have just said those words to me. Yet here we stand.

I finally found my voice. "It is a guardian's duty to protect all Moroi at any cost. We must be prepared to lay down our life for any Moroi," I said.

"What you did went beyond duty. The first time Natasha tried to kill me, you did not know who she was. The second time, you did. You had to choose between me and a woman that I know you looked up to. That cannot have been easy." Tatiana said.

"It wasn't about choosing between you and her. It was about choosing between right and wrong. I may have admired Tasha's determination to fight and defend herself, but killing Moroi regardless of their social status is wrong. Killing the queen? That's especially wrong. It would create turmoil in the Moroi world. I may disagree with your politics and I may not like you as a person, but I do not want to see you dead." I told her earnestly. And it was true. I may not like her, but I don't want her dead. Tatiana smiled when I mentioned that I didn't like her.

"For that I am extremely grateful. I also feel that I need to apologize to you," she admitted.

I looked at her shocked again. Praise and admitting she's wrong I can deal with, but an apology? "Apologize?" I asked her confused.

"I have said several times in the past that I felt you would not be an adequate guardian for Vasilisa and that you were too hot-headed and impulsive to be successful as a guardian. I want to apologize for that. You have proven to be a very capable guardian. While you were injured, I went to talk to Hans personally."

My jaw dropped even more if possible. Hans was in charge of all guardian placements.

"I requested that you be placed with Vasilisa and he immediately agreed. Vasilisa is the last of her line," her eyes flashed with something at that statement, but I couldn't figure out what it was. "If anyone can keep her alive, it will be you."

I warmed up a little at her praise. "So, you're saying I'm Lissa's guardian?" I asked to clarify. It was too good to be true.

Tatiana nodded. "Yes that's exactly what I'm saying."

She didn't say anything else. I nodded to her one last time then tried to wheel myself out, but it hurt. Tatiana called one of her guardians in to wheel me out. "Goodbye Rose," she said with a smile. I shook my head to myself as I was pushed towards the hallway. Tatiana Ivashkov smiled at me.


	16. Chapter 16

Dimitri was waiting for me out in the hallway. The concern in his face immediately vanished and was replaced by relief and love. "What did she want?" He asked me.

"She wanted to thank me. And to apologize. And…" I trailed off. So much had happened in there. I suddenly felt very tired.

"And?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later. Can we get back to my room? I really want to go to sleep," I told him.

He nodded. He was just as tired as I was. When we got back to my room, he gently laid me down on the bed. He got into the bed right next to me and pulled me close to him. I snuggled into his chest.

Despite how tired I was, I had trouble falling asleep. Dimitri insisted on staying up until I fell asleep so it was pretty late before either of us went to sleep.

We awoke late the next day. The doctor came in and changed my bandages. "It looks good. You'll have to avoid any strenuous activities while the stitches are in. The stitches have to stay in for a week and a half more, then you'll have to get them taken out."

"No shit Sherlock. I was planning on having them in forever," I muttered under my breath so only Dimitri could hear me. He chuckled out loud.

"I guess we'll have to find a doctor in Russia to take them out," he told me after the doctor had left.

I looked at Dimitri a little surprised. "When are we going to Russia?" I asked him.

He smiled at me. "Well, the queen invited you, me, and Christian to go with Lissa for her first tour of Lehigh this weekend, so after that."

I suddenly remembered what Tatiana had told me. I was Lissa's guardian! I sat up in bed. I was a little sore, but not as bad as yesterday.

"I need to talk to Lissa!" I told him urgently.

He nodded once and called Lissa. "She'll be here in about an hour. She's helping Adrian with something, then she'll be right over."

I nodded to him. "Help me stand up?" I asked.

"The doctor said…" He started.

"No strenuous activity. Walking isn't strenuous," I interrupted.

He frowned at me, but helped me up anyway. I held his arm tightly as I stood up. He wrapped his arm around me and supported me as I walked around. I quickly got tired, but it felt good to move around. He helped me pack up my stuff, so we would be able to go back to our apartment after I talked to Lissa. I refused to sit back down.

Finally Lissa showed up at my doorway. I walked over to her and threw my arms around her in a big hug. I started crying, because I was so happy. "Rose? What's wrong?" Lissa asked me. I saw her shoot a glance towards Dimitri, who looked back at her confused and concerned.

"Not wrong! It's right. Tatiana appealed to Hans to make me your guardian! I'm your guardian Liss!" I told her hugging her again. She squealed and hugged me back.

"Oh my God! This is so exciting! You're my guardian!" Lissa squealed. "Do you know who else will be my guardian?"

I shook my head. "She didn't say. I guess we'll find out when the other novices find out their placements. I don't technically start guarding you until then," I told her.

"This is still so exciting. Wait so when we go to Lehigh?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "I don't think I'll be guarding you then. We're leaving in two days, so I'll still have my stitches in so I'll be lucky if a certain someone even lets me walk," I said, shooting a quick glare towards Dimitri.

"Hey, I'm just trying to prevent you from overexerting yourself," he told me with a smile.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Overprotective," I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that," he whispered in my ear.

I sighed and focused back on Lissa. "We will be able to have some fun when we go to Lehigh," I said grinning at her. "Get the feel of college life. Maybe go to a college party."

Lissa smiled at me, her look of excitement deepening. "We won't be living on campus so I doubt we'll see much of the college life, but I guess getting that experience would be great for one weekend," she admitted.

"It'll be great!" I said enthusiastically. I heard Dimitri laugh next to me and I turned to look at him. "That is if we can escape the big Russian that doesn't know how to have fun," I teased.

He rolled his eyes at me. Lissa said goodbye and Dimitri helped me walked back to our apartment.

We were making slow progress. I had to take small, slow steps. Getting stabbed in the stomach really took a lot out of me. Every step I take has started to send a shot of pain through my stomach. We weren't even halfway to our apartment. "I think I need to take a break," I told him through gritted teeth.

He looked at me concerned then looked around. He picked me up bridal style and carried me the rest of the way to our apartment. He laid me down gently on our bed and put my stuff away. He left for over half an hour.

When he came back, he was carrying a tray with food on it. My stomach grumbled at the sight of it.

He sat down opposite me as we ate. I loved this small return to normality. A lot of things had changed, but sitting across from him, bantering as we ate our food made me realize that I was still alive and Dimitri was still part of my life. I wanted to cherish these moments while they last.


	17. Chapter 17

Two days later, we piled up in one of the Court SUV's. There were a lot of us. Dimitri and three other guardians, Lissa, Christian, and me. Eddie was one of the guardians selected to accompany us. Every seat was used. I ended up in the middle with Dimitri. Two of the guardians I didn't recognize sat up in the front. Lissa, Christian, and Eddie in the back. It was a forty-five minute drive to Lehigh, and most of it was spent talking to Lissa, Christian, Eddie, and Dimitri. It was a pleasant trip. We had to get used to a human schedule for the trip since Lissa's tours and activities at Lehigh were during the day.

We left around midnight and got there with enough time to get situated in our hotel before we had to go on a tour. Eddie, Dimitri, and the other two guardians figured out how they were going to work the night shifts. We had a suite that had three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen area. Lissa and Christian shared one bedroom, I got another, and the guardians figured out what to do about the rest. It was decided that when it was Dimitri's shift, one guardian would sleep on the couch while the other slept in the spare bedroom. Dimitri was going to sleep with me… though not in the way I wanted while Eddie was going to get the bedroom when they switched shifts.

Before we knew it, it was time for the tour of Lehigh. Lissa was practically drooling over the school the second we were on campus. I wasn't that impressed, but I also wasn't all that concerned about my collegiate education. Lissa absorbed every detail about the school. She was starting to get exhausted from being out in the sun, but tried to hide it. I may not have the bound anymore, but it was obvious to everyone. She insisted on finishing the tour.

When we got back to our hotel, it was lunch time in the human world. Lissa immediately sat down on the couch and Christian put a protective arm around her even though he wasn't doing much better.

Luckily, tomorrow would be mostly indoors. She was going to get to sit in on a class and pick out her classes. I wasn't really looking forward to the scholarly aspect, but tomorrow was also Lissa's birthday so we were going to get to have some fun after the Lehigh stuff.

I already got Dimitri's permission and he agreed to chaperone as long as I promise not to drink. It was a big sacrifice, but it was worth it to give Lissa an amazing eighteenth birthday. We had been planning Lissa's day when she got up from the couch and walked over to us.

"What are you two up to?" She asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I asked her with a wink.

She made a face at me. "On second thought I don't think I want to know," she said.

I grinned at Dimitri, who looked back at me like he was in pain. He was much more private than I was on personal matters. This was very uncomfortable. "We weren't… discussing anything… like that," he said make that sound like a bad word. Lissa and I just giggled.

"I told you I don't want to know," she said with a small smile as she walked back to Christian.

We spent the rest of the day indoors. All too soon, I was being woken up by Dimitri the next day. We went to a class that Lissa was particularly interested in taking. I actually fell asleep in that class so Christian started throwing pieces of paper rolled up into balls at me.

Finally, Lissa figured out her schedule and then we were off. We went out to lunch at a nice restaurant then me and Lissa started getting ready for the party. While she had been scheduling classes for both of us, I had been out in the hallway trying to find out where there would be a party. I found out one of the biggest frats on campus was having a huge party. I had told Lissa about our plans during lunch.

We had dressed perhaps a little mature for us, but hey we're going to a college party. We don't want to stick out. When we got to the party, Lissa and Christian immediately grabbed red solo cups and started socializing. All of the guardians were spread out, and I decided to stand near Dimitri. We were both on our guards, prepared for anything, but that didn't mean we couldn't talk a little bit.

At one point, we got a little too into our conversation. I was brought back to reality by a sharp nausea in my stomach.

Dimitri looked at me concerned. "What's wrong Roza?" He asked me.

I looked through the crowd for Lissa and Christian, but I couldn't find them. That was definitely one thing I missed about the bond. I had no idea where they could be. "Strigoi," I hissed to him as I ran off desperately trying to find Lissa.

I followed my instincts and followed the nausea. I stepped outside of the frat house and immediately found the Strigoi. He was pushing some girl up against the side of the house, getting ready to feed off of her. As I got a look at her, I noticed the long silver blonde hair and I faintly could make out the jade green eyes that looked a little glazed over. With a jolt, I realized it was Lissa. Christian was on the ground, but I could see from the rise and fall of his chest that he was still alive. I ran faster than I ever had with Dimitri and hit the Strigoi from the side. He had been too focused on Lissa that he hadn't noticed me coming. I took up a protective position in front of Lissa.

It was difficult to fight him, because he kept trying to angle me so that I would leave Lissa defenseless somewhere. I refused to falter. Suddenly there was another Strigoi, that went behind me when I warded off the first one. I staked the Strigoi sneaking up on Lissa so fast, no one had time to process it had happened. The Strigoi I was fighting hesitated in shock and I took that opportunity to stake them as well. The second they were gone, another Strigoi took their place. I started to fight on autopilot.

I lost count of how many Strigoi I took down, I just know I had to hold on until the other guardians arrived. I wondered if they were off fighting their own battles. How many Strigoi could there be. Or I wonder if they took down some Strigoi and assumed they were gone, so now they might be searching the huge frat house for the Dragomir Princess. Whatever the reason, I knew I wasn't going to be able to last much longer. I took down another Strigoi, waiting for the next one, but it never came.

I collapsed on the ground, not even finding the strength to stand. I looked to Lissa. "Go to the guardians. Get to safety," I said to her as the stars were dancing in my eyes. I saw her get up and run. I crawled over to Christian hoping to create an extra barrier in case there's another Strigoi. Then my world went black.


	18. Chapter 18

I woke up in my apartment. I felt a little sore, but I was almost certain that I had dreamt that we were attacked by Strigoi. That was until I saw Dimitri sitting in a chair on the side of the bed, dozing off. I was sure he had probably vowed to stay there until I woke up. I wonder how long I slept for this time.

I stood up, extremely sore. I wasn't a quiet person, so I knew Dimitri must have been exhausted, because he didn't wake up. I went to the kitchen to make us some cereal, which was the extent of my cooking abilities. I also cut up two apples for us to share. I went back to our bedroom and placed the tray on the bed.

I went over and stood behind Dimitri. I gently put my arms around him and whispered into his ear, "good morning Comrade," I told him. He threw his arms around me and kissed my cheek without waking up. It took all of my self-control to stifle my giggle. I went around and brought my lips to his, as I sat on his lap. I licked his lower lip, his lips parting obediently. Then his eyes flew open. I pulled back slightly and grinned at him. "Good morning Comrade," I repeated. I gave him a small kiss and stood up.

"I made breakfast," I told him happily. He immediately looked at me warily. "Don't worry Comrade. It was cereal."

He visibly exhaled in relief and went to sit on the bed. When I joined him, he pulled me close to him and kissed my forehead. "Thank you Roza," he said with a small smile. We ate our cereal in silence.

When we had finished, I put the tray to the side. I looked back at him and he had a strange expression on his face. "What's wrong Dimitri?" I ask him concerned.

"I'm just so happy to see you alive. That's twice in one week you've almost died on me," he said. He looked like he was about to cry and I immediately wrapped my arms around him.

"It's going to take a lot more than an insane Moroi and a couple of Strigoi to get rid of me," I told him jokingly.

"A couple of Strigoi? Rose that was not a couple of Strigoi," he said incredulously.

"Oh come on. It wasn't that many."

"Rose do you know how many Strigoi you alone killed? Do you?"

"I don't know. Like five or six I guess. I wasn't really paying attention," I said with a frown as I thought carefully. "I just focused on protecting Lissa." I sat upright. "Is Lissa okay? Is Christian? What about the other guardians? Was anyone hurt?" I asked frantically.

"Well obviously someone was hurt," he said motioning to me. "The Strigoi got two humans, but Lissa, Christian, and the rest of the guardians were fine."

I calmed down after hearing that news. "So how many Strigoi were there? I asked him curiously.

"The guardians and I all together took down seven Strigoi," he said. "You alone Rose, took down thirteen." There was a little awe in his voice.

I just stared at him shocked. "Thirteen?" I asked him uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

He nodded at me. "We counted up the bodies that were by you and Christian when we found you. Lissa told us about the attack. She said you were the perfect guardian, never letting down your defense. She said you looked blank almost. Like you were focused on killing rather than protecting. What you did was unheard of. No one had ever taken on thirteen Strigoi by themselves and lived to speak of it." He voice cracked and he wrapped his arm around me. "When I saw you lying by Christian, I thought you were dead," he admitted. "You were pretty bruised up and you had a broken rib, but Lissa fixed that. She also healed your stomach a little but, because you tore the stitches when you were fighting. It still needs to heal a little more, because Lissa didn't want to use too much spirit."

I buried my face in his chest. "I love you Dimitri," I told him.

"I love you too," he returned, kissing me gently.

"How long was I asleep this time?" I asked him when he had broken the kiss.

"A little less than two days. You were definitely entitled to your sleep though," he told me gently.

"Aw man. I keep ruining our plans to see your family don't I?" I said a little sourly.

"Well we weren't going to leave until tomorrow and if you feel up for it, I would really like to go," he admitted.

"I'm fine. Of course I feel up to it," I told him enthusiastically.

He grinned at me briefly. Then there was a knock on our door. I looked at him confused. "How are you feeling now? Can you walk or do you need me to get you a wheel chair?"

"I can walk, but where are we going?" I asked him confused.

"The molnija ceremony. We have to get tattooed for our kills," he told me.

I nodded at him. I had forgotten about that ceremony. I hadn't gotten tattooed since after our rescue mission. There had been so many of us getting tattoos and that was such a miserable event, I had done my best to block it from my memory. I followed Dimitri out of the room and to a meeting room that had been decorated for the occasion. Eddie and the two other guardians were already there. It seemed every guardian at the Court came to watch. I also realized a lot of Academy guardians were also there. Then to my surprise, I saw the queen. Lissa was sitting next to her. Moroi didn't usually go to ceremonies like this.

I brushed it off, figuring it might be the way they do things at Court. Dimitri got three tattoos, Eddie got two, and the other guardians got one each. Then it was my turn. Boy was I in for a surprise.


	19. Chapter 19

When I stood up and took my seat in the front of the room, I expected it to be like everyone else's except A LOT longer. I was wrong.

To my surprise, the tattooist didn't start tattooing me. Instead the queen stood up. She walked to the front and cleared her throat. It was the first time I got a good look at the audience. There weren't just guardians. There were moroi. A lot of moroi.

The queen cleared her throat and the idle whispers died down. "As we know, we are gathered here today, to celebrate an amazing event in the moroi and dhampir communities. Throughout our history, we have documented many historical events. It starts with Antony Pusonesco, a guardian who staked the first Strigoi and found the first known method of killing those evil creatures. After Antony, we have Valerie Hilloro a guardian who discovered you could decapitate a Strigoi. Finally, we have Firenze Ozera, a fire-using moroi who discovered you could incinerate a Strigoi. Those three beings revolutionized our world. We no longer had to spend our nights simply trying to ward off Strigoi, or trying to trick them out in the sun. We could fight back," she said. She looked towards Hans and he brought her a dusty old book. She opened it to the first page and there was a drawing of a stake and a passage written underneath followed by two signatures. I couldn't make out what it said. She flipped the page and there were flames. She flipped it once more, and there was a Strigoi with their head lying on the ground. I realized that these were the methods of killing a Strigoi.

"The guardians and moroi signed their names under their respective discoveries along with the queen of that time. With their discovery, came a need to document how many strigoi each person killed. Because of the silver in the tattoo needles, moroi could not get them, but the guardians could. Eifel Luner was a guardian who came up with the guidelines for the tattoos. He put his first tattoo in this book that has been filled in across the centuries. He created several tattoos that have sat on these pages waiting to be claimed." she turned the page and there was a drawing of the molnija mark along with a description and the two signatures.

"The molnija was the first tattoo developed centuries ago. It represented a single kill. Fifty years later, the zvezda was created when the first battle of between Strigoi and us occurred. Thirty Strigoi met an army of thirty guardians and fifteen moroi. Three moroi and five guardians walked away alive, but they had destroyed all of the Strigoi and they had to be recognized. All eight of them signed a scroll to document this historical event. There were several battles after that one, all of them turning up significant losses to both sides," she turned the page once again and there was a zvezda.

"Now there came an era of peace. We still killed Strigoi, but we stopped hunting them down and challenging them. We stopped using our magic and started depending on the dhampir population which was thriving. More and more dhampirs were choosing to have families, so a new mark was developed. The promise mark. It meant a dhampir has sworn to be a guardian," she flipped the page and I saw the promise mark. There was only one signature under this one, the queens I assumed.

"Since the creation of the promise mark, we haven't had to use any other symbols. Until today. One of the symbols that Eifel created was the daeis yets, which means ten kills. Never before in our history have we had a guardian that has taken on ten Strigoi by themselves and lived to tell the tale. Today, Rosemarie Hathaway sits before us. She managed to take on thirteen Strigoi to protect the last Dragomir Princess. She is the first guardian in our history to receive the daeis yets symbol," she nodded to the tattooist. My neck was already filled with the tattoos she had mentioned. I have many molnija marks. I have a zvezda from when we went on the rescue mission. I have a promise mark from when I graduated. The tattooist managed to put three more molnija marks and a small symbol that looked like two intertwined circles on the back of my neck. After he had bandaged it up, my name went in the book that told our history right next to Tatiana's name. There was a lot of cheering and Tatiana shook my hand. I was still in shock, but I was trying desperately not to show it. When it was time for the guardians to come up and talk to me, I was surprised to see a lot of moroi mixed in there.

Like the first time I got molnija marks, no one said congratulations. Everyone wanted to tell me how proud they were of me. I barely noticed what most people said. I was still trying to grasp that at eighteen, I already managed to land myself in history books. I mean I knew I was acknowledged for saving the queen's life, but this is different. This is big. I was a milestone in our history.

My mom and dad came up to see me. They didn't say much, but both of them had pride shining in their eyes. Lissa and Christian came up. Lissa's eyes were filled with tears as she hugged me.

I got a big surprise when Alberta gave me a hug. "I'm so proud of you Rose. You've shaped up into an amazing guardian and a dedicated young woman."

I smiled after her, but my biggest surprise came when Stan hugged me. Yeah, that's right. He hugged me. Weird right? He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. It was written all over his face.

Finally, Dimitri was there. He had managed to position himself so he was the last person in the line. When he gave me a hug, I practically collapsed into his embrace. "How are you holding up?" He asked me.

"Okay, I guess. It's hard to wrap my head around. Did you know?" I asked him curiously.

He shook his head. "I don't think anyone did except for Hans and the queen," he told me.

I looked back up at him and saw pride in his eyes. "I know it's hard to kill Strigoi. It's taking a life, but what you did was monumental. I couldn't be prouder of your accomplishments. Think of how many lives you saved."

I stared down quietly. I did feel proud of my accomplishments. I smiled softly back up at Dimitri. I knew I made my mark on history. I was just a guardian anymore. I was Guardian Hathaway. People were going to know my name. I grabbed Dimitri's hand as we walked back to our apartment. I was happy with the direction my life was going in.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day, me and Dimitri were rushing to catch our plane because someone overslept… I'm not saying it was me, but it was someone. It's really Dimitri's fault. He should've known better than to wait until the last minute to try to wake me up. But anyway, so we barely made it to the plane.

I was already grumpy from having been woken up so early and then rushed to the airport. To make matters worse, the flight attendant who of course was tall, blonde and beautiful had to hit on Dimitri. Thank God he's oblivious, but that man is too damn good-looking for his own good.

She completely ignored me. "Is there anything I can get you?" She asked him as she stopped down a little shoving her cleavage in his face. Seriously, there's no way he's oblivious enough to not realize that she's hitting on him. Why does everyone flirt with him? More importantly, why couldn't we have an ugly flight attendant? Like one with warts and boils and acne. As she leaned closer to him, I growled a little and I saw Dimitri smile.

"No, but thank you," he replied always polite. He turned to me. "Be nice," he warned me.

"It's not my fault that she was blatantly hitting on you. Seriously Comrade, you could like button up your shirt or something," I said to him a little annoyed.

He gave me a hug and kissed my forehead. "I love when you get jealous. It makes you scrunch up your forehead and you look really cute like that," he told me. He ignored my advice to button up his shirt a little more. The first couple of buttons were undone and what you could see of his chest hinted at muscles galore. Not that I minded seeing his chest, but I didn't like anyone else appreciating the view. It was mine!

I stuck my tongue out at him. He chuckled and kissed me lightly. Our kiss was just starting to pick up when we broke apart. I glared at him. "No fair!" I said grumpily.

"Roza, we're on a public plane," he reminded me. In truth I had forgotten about the people surrounding me. I sighed, but leaned into his chest. After one sniff of his aftershave, I immediately felt content.

Just as my stomach grumbled, the flight attendant came back over. "Is there anything I can get you?" She asked, repeating her earlier question. She rested her arm on Dimitri's shoulder and slowly trailed it down his arm. I stiffened, shooting daggers at the woman. Dimitri stiffened and I didn't know if it was in response to the tension radiating off of me or in response to the face that he didn't like this woman touching him.

"Actually," he said turning to face her so he ducked his arm from under her hand and leaned into me so his back was to my chest. "My fiancé and I could use something to eat."

The woman acknowledged my existence for the first time. She did not look happy. I took this opportunity to put my arms around Dimitri's chest lovingly. "And can I have a glass of water?" I asked her innocently, batting my eyelashes.

"I would like water too," Dimitri said. Her eyes flashed with anger at me as she nodded and walked off.

I started to let go of Dimitri, but he held my arms to him tighter. "No, no. Now you gotta play this through," he told me. Whoa déjà vu to what Adrian said at the ski lodge. I found it ironic. Then I was using Adrian to make Dimitri jealous. Now I'm using Dimitri to make the bitch flight attendant jealous.

"I will, but can I do it facing you?" I asked hopefully.

He grudgingly let go of my arms and I turned to face him, wrapping one arm around his waist and leaning on his shoulder. He put one arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. That was the position the flight attendant found us in when she brought us our food. Her scowl deepened and I couldn't help but shoot her a smug look.

Dimitri and I started eating, and when we finished, we snuggled back towards one another and fell asleep. We were woken up abruptly by the bitch flight attendant telling us we were going to land soon. I thought I saw her shooting us a smug look. I ignored her and looked at Dimitri and kissed him lightly on the lips.

When the plane landed, we were one of the last people to get off. When we finally stood up, I threw my arms around him and we kissed. I made sure my ring was positioned so the reflection of the light off of it hit her in the face. When we broke her apart, I shot her a smug look then helped Dimitri with our luggage. Dimitri got his rental car. It was a Honda, of course. He always picks the most boring cars ever. For once I'd like to see a red Ferrari, or a yellow mustang. Something interesting, but no.

We got in the car and drove to Omsk. It was several hours before we saw any signs of civilization. Dimitri was getting exponentially more excited as we got closer to his house.

"Whoa, if you don't calm down you're going to drive us off the road Comrade," I warned him. He was literally bouncing in his seat with a big goofy smile on his face.

"I won't crash us. I'm a good driver," he said looking at me. I jerked the wheel just in time to avoid a telephone pole we were heading for.

"That's it. Pull over!" I ordered. To my surprise, he listened. We got out of the car to switch spots.

When we met in the front of the car, he picked me up and spun me in a circle. Then he kissed me. "I'm so excited for you to meet my family. They're going to love you, I just know it." He said grinning at me.

I smiled at him, not having the heart to tell him how scared I was. I didn't want to ruin this moment for him.

When we got back in the car, his excitement picked up even more. "It should only take about an hour to get there," he told me.

"I'll get us there in half that time," I told him with a smile.

He gave me directions and true to my word, about thirty minutes later, we pulled up to his house. Dimitri was clutching his seat white-faced. I don't think he believed me when I told him I would get him here in half the time. As the shock of my speedy driving wore off, excitement replaced it. He got out of the car before I even had the keys out of the ignition and opened my door as I was taking off my seatbelt. Here it comes. The moment of truth. I took a deep breath and followed Dimitri to the front door.


	21. Chapter 21

Dimitri banged on his door, with all his might.

"Кто может стучать в дверь с таким нетерпением?" A voice asked from inside the house. Dimitri chuckled.

I looked at him curiously. "It means 'who could be banging on the door so impatiently?'. Our flight was early, so my mom wasn't expecting us for another couple of hours. That and you drive like a maniac," he told me.

"I do not," I scoffed.

Right then the door opened. A middle-aged woman that looked just like Dimitri stood there holding a dish towel. "Dimka?" She asked as if uncertain. Then she threw her arms around him. "Oh Dimka! You're here!" I didn't understand the rest, because she started rapidly speaking in Russian.

I was content to sit on the sidelines and watch their reunion, but Dimitri's mother had other plans. When she pulled apart from Dimitri, she hit him with her dish towel.

"Ow! What was that for?" Dimitri cried.

"For forgetting your manners and not introducing me to our guest," she said pointing her finger at me.

"You were hugging me," Dimitri pointed out. His mother raised her towel as if she were going to hit him again and Dimitri raised his hands in surrender. "Mom, this is Rose. Rose this is my mom."

"I'm Olena Belikov," she said reaching her hand out to shake mine.

"I'm Rose Hathaway," I said grinning at her.

"You're Rose Hathaway?" She asked her smile turning to a shocked expression.

"Um… Yeah," I said confused by her reaction.

She turned on Dimitri and hit him with her towel. "IN ALL OF YOUR LETTERS, YOU FAILED TO TELL ME THAT THE ROSE YOUR IN LOVE WITH IS THE ROSE THAT SAVED THE QUEEN'S LIFE AND SLAUGHTERED TEN STRIGOI BY HERSELF? YOU NEVER EVEN TOLD ME SHE'S KILLED A SINGLE STRIGOI!" Olena yelled at him. She glanced back in the house, listening to see if she woke anyone up.

Dimitri looked at her confused. "I never said I was in love with her." I felt my heart drop. Was he going to deny it? Seeing my face, he continued. "In my letters," he explained.

I took a deep breath as a sigh of relief. "You didn't need to. Before you started talking about her your letters were always. 'How are you? How's Paul? How's the family?' You said a little bit about guardian life. Then Rose comes along and it becomes. 'I have this new student Rose. She's a tough one. I've never seen a novice with such a sense of duty. I'm worried about what the darkness will do to Rose. Some guys need to keep their hands off Rose, they need to respect her personal space.' It was kind of obvious Dimka. You wouldn't talk about her so much if you weren't crazy about her." Olena explained.

"You talked about me a lot?" I asked him, blushing a little.

"Every now and then," he said, turning bright red.

"Every now and then? Don't lie Dimka. Rose, I'll have to show you one of his letters," Olena told me.

"Are we just going to stand out here in the cold?" Dimitri asked Olena, obviously trying to change the subject.

Olena smiled at her son. "Of course not. Come in, come in. Everyone should be waking up soon and I'm about to start making breakfast. Are you hungry? I could make you a little something to eat now," she offered as she led us to a living room.

"That won't be necessary," I said politely. "We can wait for breakfast."

Olena smiled at me. "Now I'm sure you want to get settled in. I don't know how comfortable you are sharing a bed. If you're not, Rose I could put you with Viktoria. I'm sure she'd love to have you."

"It's okay. I'm sure Rose doesn't have a problem sleeping in the same room as her fiancé," he said nonchalantly like it was no big deal, but I could see the happiness in his eyes.

Olena's mouth dropped. "ENGAGED?" She shrieked. "YOU'VE BEEN HOME ALMOST FIFTEEN MINUTES AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE ENGAGED?"

Dimitri grinned at her. "I was just waiting for the right time," he told her. Olena hit him with her towel again then gave me a big hug.

"Welcome to the family," she said warmly. "And you better stop keeping secrets from me!" Olena warned him.

"No more secrets, I promise," Dimitri said.

Olena showed us to the room that we were staying in. We unpacked then went back to the living room. Pretty soon, we heard shuffling as someone made their way down the stairs.

A girl that was probably only a few years younger than me was dragging her feet down the stairs. She did not look awake until she saw Dimitri. Then she made sure the whole house was awake.

"DIMKA!" She shouted and jumped at him for a hug. "Oh my God! You're here! You finally came to visit us!" She said. Her arms were still firmly wrapped around him.

When they broke apart, both of them had smiles on their faces. "Quick, before mom can come beat me up again, this is Rose. Rose this is Viktoria. My youngest sister," he introduced us.

"And his favorite sister," she said. "It's nice to meet you Rose." She walked over to me and gave me a hug.

By then, both of Dimitri's other sisters were walking down the stairs. One of them was very pregnant. The other was holding a baby girl in her arms. When they saw Dimitri, I ran over to the one holding the baby and took the baby just in time. Both of the sisters ran over to Dimitri and practically tackled him. When they had finished greeting him and hugging him, Dimitri turned towards me. "Guys, this is Rose. Sonya, Karolina, this is Rose," he said motioning towards me. I stood there holding the baby, grinning at them. Karolina seemed surprised to see she wasn't holding the baby anymore.

Sonya gave me a dark look and stalked into the kitchen. I saw Dimitri stiffen. I knew it was inevitable. Not all of them could like me. Karolina came over to me and took the baby away. "Thank you for holding her. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said smiling at me. I smiled back at her. Three out of four don't hate me, not bad.

I smiled at Dimitri and took his hand as we walked towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry about Sonya," he said to me.

"Don't worry about it Comrade. Not everyone in your family can like me," I told him gently. In reality, I was a little upset, but I didn't want him to see that. So I put a fake smile on my face and we walked into the kitchen.


	22. Chapter 22

In the kitchen, there was an elderly woman that I had yet to meet. "Rose, that's Yeva. She's my grandmother. Babushka, this is Rose," he told her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said sticking my hand out. She didn't shake my hand. She didn't smile. She just looked at me. Then she nodded, and everyone at the table seemed to sigh in relief. Except for Sonya. She just looked angry. I looked at Dimitri confused.

Later, he mouthed. I nodded as we sat down at the table.

A little boy ran into the kitchen screaming, "Uncle Dimka, Uncle Dimka!" He ran over to Dimitri and Dimitri pulled him into a hug. "Hey Paul. I want you to meet someone special. Paul this is Rose."

Paul put his face right in front of mine. Me being the child I am, made a funny face at him. Paul started giggling. Paul turned to Dimitri. "I like her Uncle Dimka," he said into Dimitri's ear. Everyone at the table heard him, but we all pretended not too.

Before I knew it, there was a huge plate of blini in front of me. Blini were really thin pancakes and they were delicious.

"So, Rose. How old are you again?" Sonya asked, trying to look innocent but unable to mask the anger in her voice.

"Eighteen," I told her. I was a little worried about what she was going to ask me, but I figured the only way to get her to like me would be if I answered her questions.

"And Dimka is twenty-four. That's a pretty big age gap," she told me.

"Yes, but there's nothing we can do about our age," I said politely. I felt Dimitri cough into his napkin to conceal his chuckle when I said that.

"So you just graduated?" She asked. Uh oh. He comes the questions about St. Vladimir's. I nodded at her. "So you're also extremely inexperienced in the real world," she pointed out.

Now it was my turn to stifle my laughter. Dimitri really should have mentioned my last name when he introduced us.

"Sonya!" Olena said. "That is not appropriate. She is…"

"No, let her," Dimitri interrupted Olena

"But…" Olena started.

"She's not going to make Rose look like a fool and you know it. I'm curious how this will play out and I know you are too," Dimitri pointed out.

Olena nodded while the three sisters looked at Dimitri and Olena confused. They couldn't understand why Dimitri was letting Sonya insult me.

I looked at Sonya. "To answer your question. I wouldn't exactly call myself inexperienced," I told her. I decided to string her along a little longer.

"Oh yeah? Have you even seen a Strigoi?" She asked me, no longer even trying to hide the contempt in her voice.

"Yeah. I've killed them."

"You've killed them? What did you run into one outside of the Academy or something?" She asked clearly not believing me.

I took a deep breath. I was going to talk about Spokane. "I made my first kills before I even left the Academy. We were on a ski trip and some of my friends and I got captured by Strigoi. There were two moroi and two other dhampirs with me. At the first possible chance, we escaped, but we didn't realize the two Strigoi were in the house. We got the moroi to safety, but my friend came back to help me. He was killed, but I managed to kill the two Strigoi," I explained to her.

"So you pretty much brought about your friends death?" She asked. I could tell she was trying to get a reaction out of me.

"Sonya," Dimitri growled.

"No let her," I said my voice confident. I took a deep breath. "Mason's death is something that will always be part of me, but there was nothing I could have done to prevent it once we were in those circumstance."

"So two Strigoi and now you have all this experience?"

"Well, those weren't my only kills. When the attack on St. Vladimir's happened, I fought and killed a couple of Strigoi with the help of my friend who's a fire user," I told her.

"Rose performed half of the kills herself. Not just a couple of Strigoi. A lot," Dimitri interrupted. I shot him a look to stay out of it.

"After that, we decided to go on a rescue mission, and I fought and killed a couple more Strigoi there." I winced remembering how close Dimitri came to dying.

"So who died because of you there?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom. She assumed my wince meant someone had died.

"No one that I personally knew. There were just some close calls," I said glancing at Dimitri. He squeezed my hand under the table.

"Dimka?" Olena asked hesitantly.

"I'll explain later. I think it's time you tell them who you are," Dimitri said to me. I looked at him and nodded.

"So there's something I should tell you. I'm Rose Hathaway," I admitted.

The shock from the three sisters was immediate. I don't think I'm going to get used to the reactions people get when they hear my name. They stared at me with their mouths open.

"I don't believe it," Sonya said recovering.

"Show them," Dimitri told me.

Obediently, I lifted up my hair and showed them the back of my neck. I heard more gasps.

"You really are Rose Hathaway? Like this isn't a joke?" Viktoria asked uncertainly.

I shook my head. "I really am."

"Oh my God!" She shrieked. "Way to go Dimka," she said elbowing him as she winked at him. I blushed slightly.

Sonya got up and stormed out of the kitchen.

"Uncle Dimka! Can you and Aunt Roza play cars with me after breakfast? Please," he pleaded, giving us a puppy dog face. I felt a little bit of a thrill at being called an aunt and I saw Dimitri smile when he heard it.

"Of course we'll play with you after breakfast," he promised.

"But first, I want to hear more about this close call when you were at St. Vladimir's," Olena told us.


	23. Chapter 23

I glanced at Dimitri nervously. "It was really nothing. I just helped Dimitri get back inside the wards," I said shrugging.

Dimitri rolled his eyes at that. "It most certainly was not nothing. The captain of the guardians at St. Vladimir's had ordered retreat. I was with two other dhampirs and one moroi. There were three Strigoi waiting to ambush us. One of the guardians was killed while the other one fled with the moroi. Then I got bitten. Rose defied the orders to retreat and ran back to the caves to help me. I didn't have the strength to fight at all and I would have been killed or worse if she hadn't come back," he explained. No one needed to ask what 'or worse meant'.

"Well Rose staked the Strigoi that bit me. Then she helped me get back to the wards, but we didn't make it. The sun was setting and the Strigoi were after us once the sun was done. We were almost to the Academy, but we still had several more feet before we were within the wards when the first Strigoi attacked. That attack was priceless," he said laughing a little at the memory.

"Rose pointed behind the Strigoi and made a face. He turned to see what she was looking at and that's when she staked him. That is still to this day my favorite Strigoi kill. But anyway, now there were three more Strigoi on us. Rose had taken a kick from the other Strigoi, so she wasn't able to adequately attack them. She mostly stayed on the defensive, making sure they couldn't attack me until we passed through the wards. She was amazing. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for her," he admitted. "It was the stupidest thing she did at St. Vladimir's, but she was amazing. And I love her for her stupidity."

The rest of his family was staring at me shocked. Even Yeva looked a little surprised. "It was nothing. Really," I said. "I just couldn't leave him there."

Olena burst into tears. She got up and strangled me into a bear hug. "I don't know how to thank you. You saved my little boy's life. You've made him the happiest I've ever seen him. I don't think I can thank you enough. You have no idea what he means to me, to use!" She said sobbing into my shoulder.

I patted her back comfortingly. "It really wasn't anything. It's the same thing he would have done for me," I told her.

"Actually Rose, you shouldn't give me credit for that. Not many people would go up against the captain of the guardians and your mother. Only you," Dimitri said. He really wanted to me get credit for this. Olena's grip tightened on me.

Viktoria and Karolina finally recovered from the shock of the story and joined Olena in the hug. Paul eventually joined in and hugged my leg just for the sake of being part of the hug.

When we finally broke apart Olena, Viktoria, and Karolina were red-eyed.

"So is it true that you saved the queen?" Viktoria asked curiously.

I nodded. "I was staked through the stomach," I winced at the memory. I may not have liked Tasha, but I still feel like she betrayed me. "I have a wicked scar to prove it," I said trying to relieve the tension. She nodded and I lifted up my shirt to expose my stomach. There was an ugly scar on my stomach from where the stake pierced me.

"And what about the ten Strigoi?" Karolina asked.

"Actually it was thirteen," Dimitri corrected.

"Thirteen?" Karolina and Viktoria asked at the same time.

"Yeah. They were attacking my best friend, Lissa Dragomir. She's also the moroi I'm going to be guarding," I explained.

"The last Dragomir?" Karolina asked shocked.

I nodded. "I had to do everything I could."

"And she did. She broke her rip and split her stitches. But she took on thirteen Strigoi and here she sits," Dimitri said with admiration and pride in his voice.

"Over-exaggerate much?" I asked him. He was blowing this way out of proportion. "I was just doing my duty."

He rolled his eyes. "And you don't see that it's a big deal that your still alive after all of those times you almost died doing your duty?"

"I do think it's a big deal, but I don't think it makes me special," I corrected him.

He was about to say something, but I cut him off. "You know I believe we told Paul we were going to place cars with him," I reminded Dimitri.

"Yeah Uncle Dimka. Let's go play cars with Aunt Roza," Paul said enthusiastically.

He dragged us into the living room where we sat down and played cars. It was like a racing game, but Paul always worked it so he won. Like I got extra time added to my score, because I didn't make the 'vroom' sound when I went around a turn. Dimitri got extra time because he was so tall. That effectively put Paul in first place with the shortest time.

I was actually enjoying myself, when someone started to knock on the door. I glanced at Dimitri curiously. He shrugged and we got up to answer the door. A man was standing there with a small envelope. "Is Rosemarie Hathaway here?" the man asked.

"That's me," I said. He handed me the envelope and walked away without saying anything else. I got a bad feeling from the envelope. I knew whatever was coming wasn't going to be good. The return address was the Court with no name on it. Was he revoking my guardian position with Lissa? I hastily tore open the envelope. There was a little piece of paper with one thing written on it. 'You're next.'

I glanced at Dimitri confused.

Then my phone started ringing. I knew before he told me that it would be Lissa. He handed me the phone. "Hello?" I asked.

"Rose? It's Lissa," she sobbed into the phone. Usually I would have responded with a smart-ass comment, but she was too upset and I was too scared.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, trying not to panic.

"It's Tasha. She escaped," Lissa cried. Dimitri was looking at me concerned. He didn't know what was wrong, because he couldn't hear my conversation.

"How Lissa?" I choked out. I already knew, but I needed to confirm it. I needed to hear it. When she didn't respond, I asked again. "Liss how did she escape?"

"She turned Strigoi Rose."

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Constructive Criticism is always welcome!


End file.
